Lilly tanks on stopping trial of evacetrapib

US pharma major Eli Lilly’s (NYSE: LLY) shares plunged 10% to $77.15 in early Monday trading, following the surprise announcement that all clinical trials involving its atherosclerosis drug candidate evacetrapib were being halted.

Lilly said it has accepted the recommendation of the independent data monitoring committee to terminate the Phase III trial of evacetrapib (LY2484595), due to insufficient efficacy. Lilly will discontinue development of evacetrapib for the treatment of high-risk atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and will now conclude other studies in the program.

The independent data monitoring committee based its recommendation on data from periodic data reviews, which suggested there was a low probability the study would achieve its primary endpoint based on results to date. The study is not being stopped for safety findings. After further analysis, results of the study will be presented in scientific forums in the future.