Cholesterol Drug Blues: Why Esperion Therapeutics' Stock Is Getting Crushed Today

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Cholesterol drugmakerEsperion Therapeuticsfell by over 23% on tremendous volume today. The catalyst behind this massive downward move was the recent Food and Drug Administration's Advisory Committee meeting forSanofiandRegeneron's injected cholesterol lowering PCSK9 inhibitor known as Praluent(alirocumab).

The committee voted thirteen to three to recommend approval of Praluent, but the consideration of a handful of different sub-populations resulted in quite a few caveats on the committee's recommendation. Specifically, nine of the sixteen experts on the panel were decidedly against approving the drug for so-called "statin intolerant" patients -- the exact patient population Esperion is targeting with its experimental cholesterol pill ETC-1002. The problem is that statin intolerance is a medically fuzzy phrase, and includes patients that experience adverse effects to statins such as Crestor, as well as individuals that simply refuse to take a statin.

So what: ETC-1002 is a key clinical product for Esperion, given that it was believed to have blockbuster potential prior to yesterday's advisory committee meeting. But now the drug may have a hard time even gaining a regulatory approval in the U.S.

Now what: The FDA's final decision on Praluent, as well as its potential label, will undoubtedly have a major impact on how Esperion decides to move forward with ETC-1002. Right now, it's looking like ETC-1002 is going to face an uphill battle with the FDA for its current indication, and that doesn't bode well for Esperion's stock moving forward. That's why it's probably best to avoid this falling knife for the time being.

The article Cholesterol Drug Blues: Why Esperion Therapeutics' Stock Is Getting Crushed Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

George Budwell has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.