Five drugs, two decades. Each page carries the mechanism, the trial record, the reason development stopped or continued, and the current regulatory status.
NewAmsterdam Pharma; Menarini Group (Europe)
Phase 3 complete for LDL-C; positive CHMP opinion 24 July 2026; EC decision due H2 2026; PREVAIL outcomes trial ongoing
The only CETP inhibitor still in active development, and the first to be built on an LDL-lowering claim rather than an HDL-raising one. A once-daily 10 mg oral tablet, taken on top of maximally tolerated statin therapy. BROADWAY, BROOKLYN and TANDEM read out in 2024 and 2025; the CHMP recommended marketing authorisation on 24 July 2026 for Ubeslo (monotherapy) and Evlarco (fixed-dose combination with ezetimibe).…
Merck (MK-0859)
Development discontinued 2017 despite a positive outcomes trial
The only CETP inhibitor to complete a cardiovascular outcomes trial and win. REVEAL randomised 30,449 patients on atorvastatin and reported a significant reduction in major coronary events. Merck discontinued development anyway, citing the modest size of the benefit and the drug's accumulation in adipose tissue. It is the most important negative decision in the field's history.
Eli Lilly (LY2484595)
Terminated for futility, 2015
A potent CETP inhibitor that raised HDL-C by well over 100% and lowered LDL-C, and changed nothing. ACCELERATE randomised 12,092 high-risk vascular patients and was stopped early for futility, with no signal of harm and no signal of benefit. It is the cleanest demonstration that raising HDL-C is not, by itself, a therapeutic goal.
Hoffmann-La Roche, then DalCor Pharmaceuticals (JTT-705, RO4607381)
Neutral in dal-OUTCOMES 2012; revived genotype-first, still in trials
A weak CETP modulator that raised HDL-C by about a third and barely touched LDL-C. dal-OUTCOMES randomised 15,871 patients after an acute coronary syndrome and found no benefit. The story then took a turn nobody expected: a pharmacogenomic signal at the ADCY9 locus suggested the drug worked in one genotype, and DalCor has been testing that claim ever since.
Pfizer (CP-529,414)
Terminated December 2006 for excess mortality
The first CETP inhibitor to reach phase 3 and the reason the class carries a shadow. ILLUMINATE randomised 15,067 patients and was halted in December 2006 when the torcetrapib arm showed excess mortality. The cause was traced to an off-target effect on aldosterone and blood pressure rather than to CETP inhibition itself, which is why the class survived at all.