Shares of Esperion Therapeutics surged in aftermarket trading Wednesday after the company reported positive clinical trial results for its experimental high-cholesterol drug ETC-1002.
The company said patients who were treated with ETC-1002 had bigger reductions in their levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol than patients who took an older drug, Merck & Co.’s Zetia.
Patients who took a smaller dose of the drug had a 27-percent reduction in LDL cholesterol, and patients given a larger dose had a 30-percent reduction. Patients who got the lower dose of ETC-1002 and a small dose of Zetia had their LDL cholesterol levels reduced by 43 percent. The 12-week midstage study enrolled 348 patients.
The Ann Arbor, Michigan, company said its drug also worked better than Zetia at reducing a market of inflammation in coronary disease.
Shares of Esperion Therapeutics Inc. climbed $8.58, or 35.1 percent, to $33 in aftermarket trading.
