Free Republic

Merck has a potential blockbuster in anacetrapib, an experimental cholesterol drug that increases HDL, or “good” cholesterol even as it lowers LDL, the “bad” cholesterol. The drug could potentially have sales of more than $1 billion a year, John Boris, an analyst at Citigroup, wrote in a note to investors on Wednesday. But don’t hold your breath. Cardiologists, patients and investors will have to wait until at least 2015 to find out whether anacetrapib protects the heart by reducing heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems, Merck said. Anacetrapib works by inhibiting an enzyme called CETP, which is involved in transforming...