Thought CETP inhibition was dead? Think again

The failure of CETP inhibitors to prove themselves as a treatment for cardiovascular disease must rank as one of the biggest, and costliest, R&D disappointments of the past 20 years. With them died the HDL hypothesis: that heart attacks and strokes could be prevented by hiking levels of so-called “good” cholesterol.

Armed with a $200m series A round and Amgen’s unwanted CETP inhibitor obicetrapib, New Amsterdam is embarking on a revival of the mechanism, but this time focusing on LDL reduction. “There was an enormous enthusiasm to develop this drug from a financial and business point of view,” says the company’s founder and chief scientific officer, John Kastelein, telling Evaluate Vantage that a second funding round was already in the works.