Esperion Announces Initiation of Phase II Triplet Oral Therapy Study

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc., the lipid management company focused on developing and commercializing convenient, complementary, cost-effective, once-daily, oral therapies for the treatment of patients with elevated low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), recently announced the initiation of a Phase II clinical study (1002-038) to assess the efficacy and safety of triplet oral therapy with bempedoic acid, ezetimibe, and atorvastatin in patients with hypercholesterolemia. This non-registrational study will enable the company to explore the potential market dynamics of these complementary oral LDL-C lowering therapies together. Top-line results are expected by the fourth quarter of 2017.

“Our goal is to establish bempedoic acid as the go-to complementary oral therapy that will provide patients and physicians with the option to tailor combination therapies with the convenience of once-daily, oral dosing and the confidence in the LDL-C lowering and excellent tolerability we’ve come to expect from bempedoic acid,” said Tim M. Mayleben, President and CEO of Esperion. “We seek to demonstrate in this Phase II triplet oral therapy study of bempedoic acid, ezetimibe, and the most commonly prescribed statin dose, atorvastatin 20 mg, significant LDL-C reductions, and consistently favorable safety and tolerability.”

The 6-week, Phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of 180 mg of bempedoic acid, 10 mg of ezetimibe, and 20 mg of atorvastatin (triplet oral therapy) versus placebo. The study is expected to enroll approximately 60 patients with hypercholesterolemia at approximately 20 sites across the US. The primary objective of the study is to assess the LDL-C lowering efficacy of the triplet oral therapy versus placebo. Secondary objectives include assessing the safety and tolerability of the triplet oral therapy versus placebo and effects on other risk markers, including non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C), total cholesterol, apolipoprotein B (apoB), and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP).

“The triplet oral therapy including bempedoic acid, ezetimibe, and atorvastatin could provide a much-needed novel treatment option for physicians by providing the ability to tailor well-tolerated multiple oral therapies aimed at helping patients with hypercholesterolemia achieve their LDL-C goal that could provide a tolerability advantage,” said Seth J. Baum, MD, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Excel Medical Clinical Trials, LLC and study investigator. “I look forward to the opportunity to include patients from our research group in this study, and to seeing the results later this year.”

With a targeted mechanism of action, bempedoic acid is a first-in-class, orally available, once-daily ACL inhibitor that reduces cholesterol biosynthesis and lowers elevated levels of LDL-C by up-regulating the LDL receptor, but with reduced potential for muscle-related side effects. Completed Phase I and II studies in more than 800 patients treated with bempedoic acid have produced clinically relevant LDL-C lowering results of up to 30% as monotherapy, approximately 50% in combination with ezetimibe, and an incremental 20+% when added to stable statin therapy.

In the US, 78 million people, or more than 20% of the population, have elevated LDL-C; an additional 73 million people in Europe and 30 million people in Japan also live with elevated LDL-C. Esperion’s mission as the lipid management company is to provide patients and physicians with convenient, complementary, cost-effective, once-daily, oral therapies to significantly reduce elevated levels of LDL-C in patients inadequately treated with current lipid-modifying therapies. It is estimated that 40 million patients in the US are taking statins with approximately 5% to 20% of these patients only able to tolerate less than the lowest approved daily starting dose of their statin and considered “statin intolerant.” Esperion-discovered and developed, bempedoic acid is a targeted LDL-C lowering therapy in Phase III development. The company has two Phase III products in development: 1) bempedoic acid (monotherapy), an oral, once-daily pill, and 2) an oral, once-daily fixed dose combination pill of bempedoic acid and ezetimibe (BA+EZ).

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. is the lipid management company passionately committed to developing and commercializing convenient, complementary, cost-effective, once-daily, oral therapies for the treatment of patients with elevated LDL-C. Through scientific and clinical excellence, and a deep understanding of cholesterol biology, the experienced lipid management team at Esperion is committed to developing new LDL-C lowering therapies that will make a substantial impact on reducing global CVD; the leading cause of death around the world. Bempedoic acid, the company’s lead product candidate, is a targeted therapy that significantly reduces elevated LDL-C levels in patients with hypercholesterolemia, including patients inadequately treated with current lipid-modifying therapies. For more information, visit www.esperion.com and follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/EsperionInc.