Am­gen buries the last big CETP drug, mark­ing the bit­ter end of a block­buster quest

Am­gen used its Q3 re­port to­day to quick­ly bury the last broad­ly fo­cused CETP drug in the clin­ic, clos­ing the fi­nal chap­ter in an R&D sto­ry that con­sumed bil­lions of dol­lars in a fruit­less chase by some of the biggest de­vel­op­ers in the busi­ness for a ma­jor new heart drug.

Two years ago, when Am­gen $AMGN R&D chief Sean Harp­er un­veiled a $1.55 bil­lion deal to buy Dez­i­ma — front­ed with $300 mil­lion in cash— he hap­pi­ly spec­u­lat­ed on the po­ten­tial of adding an­oth­er block­buster to the car­dio port­fo­lio. The right CETP in­hi­bi­tion ther­a­py, he felt, could have a big fu­ture by low­er­ing LDL and rais­ing HDL. And he was hope­ful the new mid-stage drug he had just pur­chased could fit the bill.

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