Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced on Friday positive Phase two results for lepodisiran, an investigational small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapy aimed at decreasing the production of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], a genetically inherited risk factor for heart disease.

In the Phase 2 ALPACA study, lepodisiran significantly reduced Lp(a) levels by an average of 93.9% over the 60 to 180-day period after treatment with the highest tested dose (400mg), meeting the primary endpoint. Participants who received the 16mg and 96mg lepodisiran doses experienced a 40.8% reduction and a 75.2% reduction in Lp(a) levels over the same time period, respectively.

Lepodisiran also met additional secondary endpoints, showing reductions in Lp(a) levels following one or two administrations of each of the three tested doses across all timepoints assessed throughout the nearly 18-month-long study. Lepodisiran was administered twice at each dose (16mg, 96mg, or 400mg), once at baseline and at day 180, with a separate group receiving 400 mg at baseline and placebo at day 180. The effect of additional doses of lepodisiran remains undetermined.