Eli Lilly Posts Verve 102 Data With 88% PCSK9 Drop
Eli Lilly’s verve 102 posted dose-dependent reductions in PCSK9 of up to 88% and LDL-C of up to 62% after a single infusion in the Phase 1b Heart-2 study. The 35-participant interim readout gives investors, cardiologists, and patients a concrete look at whether one treatment could replace ongoing LDL-C lowering for years.
Heart-2 Delivers 35-Patient Readout
35 participants were included in the interim analysis, and the results ranged from 51% PCSK9 lowering at the 0.3 mg/kg dose to 88% at 1.0 mg/kg. LDL-C fell 9% at 0.3 mg/kg, 44% at 0.45 mg/kg, 45% at 0.6 mg/kg, 33% at 0.7 mg/kg, 51% at 0.8 mg/kg, and 62% at 1.0 mg/kg. Lilly said the reductions were sustained for up to 18 months after treatment.
Sekar Kathiresan Cites PCSK9 Genetics
Sekar Kathiresan, Lilly senior vice president and co-founder of Verve Therapeutics, said the readout gives early clinical evidence that a single dose of VERVE-102 may mimic the LDL-C lowering effects of PCSK9 cardioprotective variants. He added, “Twenty years ago, genetics showed us that people born with PCSK9 naturally turned off have low LDL-C for life and are remarkably protected from heart attack, yet today's chronic therapies struggle to deliver this lifelong lowering.”
Riyaz S. Patel, a cardiologist at Barts Health NHS Trust and professor of cardiology at University College London, said, “Many patients with elevated LDL-C struggle to achieve sustained control despite ongoing efforts with the medicines available today, putting them at significant risk for cardiovascular events.” He also said, “These early data give us encouraging evidence that in vivo base editing of PCSK9 may offer a novel approach to achieving substantial and durable LDL-C reduction with a one-time treatment,” and added, “With coronary artery disease still one of the leading causes of death worldwide, the need for new approaches is real.”
Phase 2 By End-2026
The 1.0 mg/kg cohort produced the strongest LDL-C reduction at 62%, while the 0.3 mg/kg group still showed a 51% drop in PCSK9, a spread that points to a clear dose response across the study. VERVE-102 was well tolerated across all dose levels, with no treatment-related serious adverse events, no dose-limiting toxicities, all participants receiving the full planned dose, and no participant withdrawing from the study. Lilly plans to begin enrolling the Phase 2 clinical study by the end of 2026, after presenting the data at the European Atherosclerosis Society Congress and publishing them in The New England Journal of Medicine.
