Hypercholesterolemia Drug Pipeline: 67 Assets by Phase

How many hypercholesterolemia drugs are in each phase of development?

Douglas Insights counts 24 hypercholesterolemia candidates in Phase III, 36% of the 67 assets in development; Phase II holds 11 and Phase I holds 32.

Phase I/II candidates sit in the Phase I row and Phase II/III candidates in the Phase II row, so each hypercholesterolemia asset appears in exactly one row. The 108 trials still recruiting or running carry 25% of the 424 registered trials in scope.

Which approved hypercholesterolemia medicines are still in trials?

5 medicines already on the market are still being tested in hypercholesterolemia Phase IV trials; Ezetimibe has the most, with 82 registered trials.

Post-approval hypercholesterolemia trials test new doses, new patient groups and head-to-head comparisons. They set the standard of care that every candidate in development will be measured against, so the paid review profiles each one.

How many hypercholesterolemia trials are recruiting patients now?

49 hypercholesterolemia trials are recruiting patients and 33 more have not started recruiting yet, out of 424 interventional trials in scope; together they make up 19% of the trial base.

Terminated, suspended and withdrawn hypercholesterolemia trials stay in the trial base so that a stalled programme is visible, but a candidate whose only trials stopped is no longer counted as in development.

Which companies lead the hypercholesterolemia pipeline?

AstraZeneca leads the hypercholesterolemia pipeline with 13 candidates; the top 5 sponsors hold 42% of the 67 assets, and 35 sponsors run at least one.

Industry sponsors lead 338 of the 424 hypercholesterolemia trials (80%); universities, hospitals and public funders lead the rest. A sponsor is credited with an asset when it is the lead sponsor on most of that asset's industry trials.

Which drug types and mechanisms dominate the hypercholesterolemia pipeline?

Mechanism and drug-type classification for the 67 hypercholesterolemia candidates is done by the research desk asset by asset, each with a cited source, and is published in the paid review together with the white-space map.

What hypercholesterolemia trial readouts are coming next?

8 hypercholesterolemia candidates in Phase II or later have a registered primary completion date in the next 12 months; the next three are below, each linked to its registry record.

Primary completion is the date a sponsor expects the last patient to finish the main measurement, so data usually follow within months. Dates marked estimated are the sponsor's own forecast on the registry and often move.

How many hypercholesterolemia readouts fall in each quarter?

16 hypercholesterolemia candidates in Phase II or later reach registered primary completion over the next eight quarters, with the most, 5, due in Q2 2027.

Each candidate is counted once, at its next readout. The paid catalyst calendar names every readout with its trial, sponsor and design, adds filings and regulatory decisions, and runs 24 months ahead.

Which countries host the most hypercholesterolemia trials?

United States hosts the most hypercholesterolemia trials, with sites in 122 of the 424 studies (29%); trials in scope run in 69 countries in all.

A multinational hypercholesterolemia trial is counted once in every country where it has a site, so the shares add up to more than 100%. Country spread shows where sponsors are building the evidence that regulators in each market will ask for.

Where are hypercholesterolemia drugs being tested?

122 of the 424 hypercholesterolemia trials (29%) have a site in the United States, 87 (21%) in Europe and 99 (23%) in China; 26 of the 67 candidates in development are tested in the US.

Each region's trials are the evidence its regulator will review: the FDA in the United States, the EMA (with the MHRA and Swissmedic) in Europe, the NMPA in China and the PMDA in Japan. A multinational hypercholesterolemia trial counts once in every region where it has a site, so the shares add up to more than 100%. A candidate tested only outside the US and Europe is often a licensing opportunity for sponsors in those markets.

What has changed in the hypercholesterolemia pipeline since the last update?

Since 3 Oct 2026, the hypercholesterolemia pipeline count moved by +1 assets to 67, Phase III moved by 0 and the trial base by 0.

How does Douglas Insights count the hypercholesterolemia pipeline?

Douglas Insights read 424 interventional trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov for the conditions "hypercholesterolemia", "hyperlipoproteinemia(a)" and updated since 3 Oct 2021, then grouped every drug or biologic named in them into 67 unique candidates.

1. Code names, generic names and brand names of the same molecule are merged into one candidate, and every merge is reviewed by the research desk.
2. A candidate counts when it has a trial that is recruiting, running, or completed in the last 24 months, and at least one industry-sponsored trial.
3. Its phase is the highest phase among those trials; placebo, standard-of-care and comparator arms are not candidates.
4. Each figure on this page is drawn from one frozen dataset that passes ten checks before release, and the owner approves every edition.

Read the full approach on the research methodology page, or browse other Pharmaceuticals research.

Frequently asked questions about the hypercholesterolemia pipeline

Research & citation

This review was researched, written and reviewed by the Douglas Insights Research Desk under the Douglas Insights editorial standards. Material errors are logged in the corrections log. No section is sponsored.

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