Lilly Drug Hurts The Kidney
1 CommentBy Ed Silverman // March 25th, 2007 // 3:56 pm
An extremely potent experimental cholesterol drug being developed by Eli Lilly failed to show an advantage over an existing med sold by Abbott Labs in a study that could determine the fate of the medicine.
Lilly had hoped that the drug, LY518674, would dramatically lower triglycerides while raising HDL levels when compared with fenofibrate, which Abbott markets as TriCor. Despite the potency of the new Lilly drug — it’s about 10,000 times stronger than TriCor — researchers found it showed no advantages over TriCor, according to data presented at the ACC today.
Moreover, in what could be the death knell for the medicine, the Lilly drug, which belongs to a class called PPAR agonists, increased levels of LDL, or bad cholesterol, and both drugs raised safety concerns by showing evidence of worsening kidney function.
ACC press release about the study;
Study abstract.
Source: Reuters and Bloomberg News.
[tags]Abbott Laboratories, Eli Lilly, TriCor[/tags]
Melody
Lilly–late to the party again. Won’t Lilly–or any of Big Pharma–use a bit of latent brain power that I am sure must reside in the R&D department and try something innovative and NEW, not just another me-too offering?
If they really want a me-too–why don’t they delve into their archives and “re-invent” natural animal insulins. There is a need for these old-time drugs–which Lilly has artfully removed from the U.S. marketplace. Guess if they tried to do this, though, they might actually have to compare natural insulins with the genetically-engineered stuff that is the ONLY product available to U.S. citizens–and the comparison might reveal long-term liability (product safety, efficacy, or marketing shenanigans). And, of course, the product is unpatentable–so why bother?