Esperion sets sights on new frontiers while maintaining commitment to cardiovascular health
Even with significant educational efforts, heart disease remains the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States and around the world. While statins are the standard of care, Esperion Therapeutics focuses on the approximately 30 percent of patients who either cannot take statins at all or who can only take doses needed to control LDL cholesterol. “At Esperion, we are commercializing impactful products to support medical professionals treating patients with statin intolerance. Studies show that an estimated 29% of patients stop taking statins within the first year. People may stop taking statins for a variety of reasons, including muscle side effects, but we know that uncontrolled LDL cholesterol puts these people at risk for heart attack or other cardiovascular procedures like stents,” Koenig said.
The company provides healthcare providers and patients with a variety of educational tools to increase awareness of statin intolerance and alternative treatments. Patient materials are available at statinalternatives.info.
Guidelines to support non-statin therapy
Recently, the European Society of Cardiology published an update to the 2019 guidelines for the management of dyslipidemia. “The updated guidelines indicate that similar to the treatment of hypertension or diabetes, LDL-C lowering therapy needs to be combined early in the treatment,” Koenig noted.
“We're happy to report that in the updated European guidelines, bempedoic acid has received a level 1A recommendation for patients who cannot take statins or can take statins and are at high risk. That's one of the highest recommendations you can get. So whether you can take statins or not, you can use bempedoic acid. They actually attribute a whole section to bempedoic acid in the guidelines. It's the only new LDL-C that's mentioned reducer.”
“As a result of this update, it is too early to judge the pickup situation in Europe, but we are encouraged,” Koenig added.
The American College of Cardiology (ACC) is currently reviewing its guidelines, with an update expected in the first quarter of 2026. Esperion anticipates similarly positive reviews of bempedoic acid in the updated ACC guidelines, and the company is already preparing educational materials for health care providers and patients.
Explore new therapeutic areas
Confident in the future of Bempedoic Acid, the company has turned its attention to advancing its expertise in ACLY biology into new disease categories.
“On April 24 of this year, Esperion held an R&D Day where we announced the development of a lead compound for the treatment of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a very rare rare liver disease,” said Koenig. “At least 72,000 patients worldwide have this difficult-to-diagnose disease. Typically, once PSC is diagnosed, you are typically considered for a liver transplant within one to two decades, and there are no approved therapies to cure or stop PSC progression.”
Koenig points out that the research candidate is not a bempedoic acid. “This is a completely different drug with its own intellectual property and we have global rights. The PSC is the start of a whole liver project, with the possibility of looking into kidney disease in the future as well.
“We believe we have the potential to develop the first drug to help treat and potentially reverse PSC. However, there is still much work to be done. We have passed all the screens needed to move forward and expect to file an IND next year and enter the clinic soon,” Koenig explained.
“We'll have to wait and see what happens in humans,” Koenig added. “But it's very promising.”
A clear vision for the future
Esperion is developing an internal plan called “Vision 2040” to define the company’s strategy moving forward and bring employees from all areas of the organization together under this shared vision.
“We are in the business of developing life-saving medicines for patients and their healthcare providers,” Koenig explained. “Ultimately, it all depends on everyone at Esperion understanding and advancing our vision every day. We have the people in place, and through Vision 2040, we will have a plan to get there.”
