Amgen Stock Sinks 10% After Novartis LP(a) Drug Fails Phase 3

Yahoo Finance2 min read6 sources

Why is Amgen stock down today?

Amgen (AMGN) stock fell about 10% to around $393 on Tuesday after Novartis's Lp(a)-lowering drug pelacarsen failed Phase 3, prompting a BMO Capital downgrade.

Key numbers

AMGN 1-day decline	~10%closed near $393; steepest single-day drop since October 2000
Lp(a)HORIZON trial size	8,323 patientspelacarsen missed primary cardiovascular endpoint despite Lp(a) reduction [3]
Pelacarsen Lp(a) reduction achieved	up to 80%vs placebo, but no reduction in CV death, MI, or stroke [3]
BMO price target (AMGN)	$450rating cut from Outperform to Market Perform on Sept 8 [2]
LLY 1-day decline	-2.03%class-wide Lp(a) contagion sell-off [4][5]
Ionis 1-day decline (Sept 4)	-13.1%co-developer of pelacarsen with Novartis (per [3])

What happened

Amgen (AMGN) stock fell about 10% to around $393 on Tuesday after Novartis's Lp(a)-lowering drug pelacarsen failed Phase 3, prompting a BMO Capital downgrade. Pelacarsen enrolled 8,323 patients and cut Lp(a) by up to 80% — yet still failed to reduce heart attacks, strokes, or cardiovascular death. That raised a troubling question: if lowering Lp(a) does not prevent heart attacks, rival drugs built on the same idea may face the same fate. BMO analyst Evan Seigerman cut Amgen's rating from Outperform to Market Perform, keeping a $450 price target, citing the clouded outlook for Amgen's olpasiran trial, due to report results in 2028.

Why it matters

Amgen's plunge matters because it is not really about one bad drug — it is a verdict on whether the entire Lp(a)-lowering approach works as a way to prevent heart disease. Millions of people have high Lp(a) levels and no approved drug to treat them, so this drug class represents a massive untapped market. If the class is genuinely broken, years of late-stage trial work and billions in investment across multiple companies could be lost. Eli Lilly and Ionis are now in the same boat.

Who this affects

Marketbearish High impact: Pharma stocks with Lp(a) programs sold off broadly.
Companybearish High impact: Amgen's olpasiran pipeline now faces deep investor skepticism.
Competitorsbearish Medium impact: Eli Lilly fell 2%; Ionis fell 13% on class fear.
Industrybearish High impact: Lp(a) drug class must now prove it prevents heart disease.

Amgen vs Eli Lilly, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Novartis


AmgenAMGN:NASDAQ	~$205B	-10%	~+21%	16.3x
Eli LillyLLY:NYSE	~$994B	-2%	~+38%	27.5x
Ionis PharmaceuticalsIONS:NASDAQ	~$9.1B	-13.1%	—	—
NovartisNVS:NYSE	—	-3%	—	—