Lately, much has been made of healthcare stock Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) for its attempts at a weight loss drug. That’s delivered a lot of impact, but now, it’s got something else in play that might do just as much good, at least for heart patients. Despite this good news, Eli Lilly is down fractionally in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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The latest from Eli Lilly focuses on lepodisiran, an experimental drug that’s making some real strides against one key risk factor for heart disease: lipoprotein(a). Lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), is widely known in the medical community as a key connected factor with cardiovascular issues. But lepodisiran is actually reducing Lp(a) levels in patients’ bloodstreams by as much as 94% with one injection, and that protection lasts as long as a year. While still in early-stage testing, the results from a Phase 1 trial were shocking: among the 48 patients, none reported any serious adverse events, and each saw Lp(a) reductions.
Eli Lilly isn’t Not Alone
Eli Lilly’s development is certainly a welcome one, but they likely won’t have a first-mover advantage here. Reports note that Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) is already working on an Lp(a) treatment known as olpaisiran. The treatment is currently being studied in OCEAN (a) clinical programs, and reports noted it’s already in its Phase III studies since December 2022. While there’s certainly room enough in the market for more than one drug—heart disease is currently the leading killer in the United States, with one in every five deaths attributable to it—the more time Amgen or any other competitor has to itself the more it can get inertia to settle in on its side.
What is the Target Price for LLY Stock?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on LLY stock based on 19 Buys and one Hold assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 75.79% rally in its share price over the past year, the average LLY price target of $645.72 per share implies 6.31% upside potential.
