Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. is a publicly traded American pharmaceutical company focused on the development of bempedoic acid, an orally available small molecule designed to lower elevated levels of LDL-C. The company is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
History
The first Esperion
The first Esperion was founded in 1998 by Dr. Roger Newton to focus on the in-licensing and development of drugs to modulate HDL cholesterol (HDL-c).
Pfizer acquired the original Esperion in February 2004 for US$1.3 billion. It's believed this was a defensive move by Pfizer to prevent ETC-216 (apoA-1 Milano, Esperion's lead drug candidate) from falling into competitors' hands. ETC-216 increased the levels of ApoA-1, the major protein in HDL cholesterol (HDL-c), the so-called "good cholesterol". It was believed that raising the levels of ApoA-1 (or HDL-c) in the body would reduce cardiovascular disease risk.[2] At the time, Pfizer was the leader in developing a promising new class of drugs known as CETP inhibitors (CETPi). These drugs also raised HDL-c. However, almost 3 years later, in late 2006, Pfizer's CETPi drug (torcetrapib) failed in the final stages of clinical development.