This could be Regeneron's next product

The latest data on Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ treatment for ultra-high cholesterol suggest the intravenous medicine could have an easy path to approval. But the actual number of eligible patients has already raised concerns that the company’s latest impressive science could have little commercial impact.

The news: Regeneron’s evinacumab significantly lowered bad cholesterol for patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic disease that causes dangerously high cholesterol. And it was pretty dramatic: On average, patients who got evinacumab saw their cholesterol fall by 47%, while those on placebo saw it rise 2%. That’s all on top of maximum-tolerated therapy.

The context, however, is that the disease affects roughly 1 in 1 million births, and there are therapies — including Regeneron’s own Praluent — approved to treat it. That means evinacumab would likely be limited to only the most severe of patients, a small population that analysts say will make it difficult to turn the treatment into a revenue driver.

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