Roche "Good Cholesterol" Drug Shows Early Promise

An experimental drug from Roche designed to raise "good" HDL cholesterol has produced encouraging results in a small mid-stage clinical trial, boosting shares in the Swiss drugmaker by more than 2 percent on Monday. Further details about the performance of dalcetrapib will be released at a medical meeting in Paris next week, but analysts said a scientific abstract posted by the European Society of Cardiology at the weekend painted a positive picture. While dalcetrapib continues to be viewed as a high-risk project, its chances of success have improved following data from the 130-patient Phase II imaging study showing it does not increase plaque-related inflammation on artery walls.

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