Novartis' Pelacarsen Clinical Failure Impacts Cardiovascular Drug Race and Eli Lilly
On Sept. 4, 2026, Novartis announced that its late-stage clinical trial for pelacarsen failed to meet the primary endpoint of reducing cardiovascular events despite lowering Lp(a) levels effectively. Pelacarsen was developed by Ionis Pharmaceuticals and licensed to Novartis in 2019 as a treatment targeting elevated lipoprotein(a), which is linked to arterial plaque buildup and clotting. The failure has implications for the broader race among pharmaceutical companies developing drugs that target Lp(a). While Amgen's stock dropped significantly following news of pelacarsen’s underperformance, Eli Lilly experienced only a minor decline. This was partly due to differences in approach—Lilly is testing lepodisiran, which showed greater reductions in Lp(a) during phase 2 trials and includes a broader patient population. Despite the setback for Novartis, analysts believe it may not be a major threat to Lilly’s prospects given its strong position in diabetes and obesity treatments. However, there remains some risk that further data from Novartis could raise doubts about lepodisiran's success.
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Topics: biopharma cardiovascular drugs Lp(a) pelacarsen