Esperion shares plummet 20% on late-stage trial results

Esperion Therapeutics Inc. ESPR, +0.70%shares plummeted 20% in premarket trade Wednesday on late-stage clinical trial results for its cholesterol-lowering medication. The phase 3 trial, which enrolled 2,230 patients, met the primary endpoint of safety and tolerability and the key efficacy endpoint, lowering LDL-C an additional 20% after 12 weeks, the company said.

LDL-C was also lowered 20% at 24 weeks, and 16% at 52 weeks. Investors and Wall Street will be watching any potential safety issues with the therapy closely. Safety issues for individuals on the therapy, bempedoic acid, happened at a rate of nearly 80%, and serious safety issues were seen at nearly 11%, with the company noting there were "no clinically relevant differences" for those measures between the therapy and the placebo groups. Bempedoic acid is intended for high-risk patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, or artery-clogging fat deposits, who haven't responded well enough to cholesterol-lowering drugs like statins. Other companies that have or are developing cholesterol-lowering medications include Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. REGN, -0.81%and Sanofi SNY, -0.48%Amgen Inc. AMGN, -2.98%and Medicines Company MDCO, -3.06%and Regeneron recently announced discountsfor its cholesterol-lowering drug, in hopes of boosting sales. Esperion shares have lifted 0.7% month-to-date, compared with a 0.3% rise in the S&P 500 SPX, +0.25%and a 0.3% decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.27%