Novartis shares down as failed cholesterol drug study increases pipeline pressure

Novartis AG

07/09/2026 08:24

LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Shares of Novartis NOVN.S fell 3.3% on Monday morning after its cholesterol drug failed in a closely watched study, casting fresh doubt on the therapeutic approach and raising the stakes for the Swiss drugmaker's upcoming data for a gene therapy. 
Late on Friday, Novartis said its drug pelacarsen did not cut heart attack and stroke risk in a large, late-stage study of patients with high Lp(a), an inherited, cholesterol-related risk factor with no approved targeted treatments.
The failure raises the bar for rival Lp(a)-lowering drugs from Amgen AMGN.O and Eli Lilly LLY.N, both running late-stage trials. It also increases the pressure on data from an experimental muscular dystrophy drug del-desiran, which Novartis spent $12 billion to acquire last year. 
Analysts had modeled peak annual sales between $3 billion and $6 billion for pelacarsen.     

 (Reporting by Bhanvi Satija; Editing by Joe Bavier)
 ((Bhanvi.Satija@thomsonreuters.com; +44 7920644259;))