Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY)’s experimental drug doubled levels of good cholesterol in a study, setting up a race with Merck & Co. and Roche Holding AG (ROG) to develop a new class of medicines to lower heart risk. Good cholesterol, or HDL, sweeps the bad form of the fatty substance, known as LDL, out of arteries, reducing clogs. The treatment being developed by Indianapolis-based Lilly, evacetrapib, boosted HDL by as much as 129 percent and lowered bad cholesterol as much as 36 percent, the research found. The data, reported at the American Heart Association meeting today in Orlando, Florida, were similar to those seen last year with a rival from Merck & Co., called anacetrapib, researchers at the conference said.
