Pfizer has called time on its alliance with Ionis for cholesterol-lowering therapy vupanorsen, after a review of phase 2b data raised some questions about the antisense drug’s efficacy and safety.
It’s a setback to Pfizer’s late-stage pipeline, given that at one point the company was projecting $3 billion in potential sales for vupanorsen, which targets ANGPTL3 protein and is playing catch-up in the category with Regeneron’s already-marketed Evkeeza (evinacumab).
The big pharma’s commitment to the programme was already in question after it issued a somewhat non-committal response to the trial data last November, despite vupanorsen hitting its efficacy targets in the TRANSLATE-TIMI 70 study.
