Novartis pelacarsen failure raises stakes for Amgen and Eli Lilly Lp(a) drugs

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Summary · why it matters

Novartis' failed pelacarsen trial has raised the stakes for rival experimental cholesterol drugs from Amgen and Eli Lilly, both racing to prove that lowering lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), can meaningfully reduce heart attacks and strokes. Analysts said Amgen's olpasiran faces the clearest negative read-through given its similar trial design, while Lilly's lepodisiran is being tested in a broader patient population that could limit how directly Novartis' failure applies and is described as less material to Lilly's overall valuation than pelacarsen was for Novartis. The failure raises the scientific and regulatory burden for the entire Lp(a) drug class, and both companies still face binary clinical risk before either olpasiran or lepodisiran delivers definitive late-stage cardiovascular-outcome evidence. On hedge fund positioning, Amgen's position value nearly doubled to $3.14 billion in the second quarter from $1.63 billion in the first, with holder count roughly steady at 66 versus 65, while Lilly's holders rose to 152 from 132 and position value jumped to $17.24 billion from $12.58 billion.

Impact on stocks 5

Biotech & Genomic Medicine▼ · 3 stocks
Novartis AG
NOVN
▼ NegativeTechnologyrelevance

Novartis' pelacarsen trial failed, a setback for its experimental Lp(a)-lowering cholesterol drug

Amgen Inc
AMGN
▼ NegativeCompetitionrelevance

Novartis' pelacarsen failure creates the clearest negative read-through for Amgen's similar olpasiran Lp(a) trial design

Eli Lilly and Company
LLY
▼ NegativeCompetitionrelevance

Novartis' pelacarsen failure raises the scientific and regulatory burden for the Lp(a) class, though lepodisiran is less material to Lilly's valuation

Artificial Intelligence▲ · 1 stocks
Health Care▲ · 1 stocks

Theme Impact 1

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