Agent
Evacetrapib
Status 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.
Mechanism. A selective CETP inhibitor with a large effect on HDL-C and a meaningful effect on LDL-C.
The trial. ACCELERATE (NCT01687998) enrolled 12,092 patients with high-risk vascular disease. An independent monitoring committee recommended stopping for futility in 2015; the trial reported no reduction in cardiovascular events despite the expected lipid changes.
What it settled. Evacetrapib is the reason the HDL hypothesis in its simple form is no longer taken seriously. The lipid biomarkers moved exactly as designed and the patients did not benefit. After ACCELERATE, the only defensible argument for the class was apoB lowering, which is the argument obicetrapib is now making.
evacetrapibHDL biologyoutcomes trials
Page updated 18 August 2026.