Eli Lilly's Stock Tumbles After Termination Of Heart Disease Drug's Development

Eli Lilly & Co. tumbled 7.6% in premarket trade Monday, after the drug maker said it was terminating development of its cardiovascular disease treatment, evacetrapib, because of insufficient efficacy. The company expects to record a fourth-quarter charge of $90 million, or 5 cents a share, as a result of discontinuing development. Lilly said an independent data monitoring committee had recommended discontinuing trials, after data from reviews of late-stage trials suggested there was a low probability that the study would achieve its primary endpoint. "We're obviously disappointed in this outcome, as we hoped that evacetrapib would offer an advance in treatment for people with high-risk cardiovascular disease," said David Ricks, president of Lilly Bio-Medicines. The stock has soared 25% year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 has lost 2.1%.