Eli Lilly’s experimental drug doubled levels of good cholesterol in a study, setting up a race with Merck and Roche to develop a new class of medicines to lower heart risk.

Good cholesterol, or HDL, sweeps the bad form of the fatty substance, known as LDL, out of arteries, reducing clogs.

The treatment being developed by Lilly, evacetrapib, boosted HDL by as much as 129 per cent and lowered bad cholesterol as much as 36 per cent, the research found.

The data, reported at the American Heart Association meeting yesterday, were similar to those seen last year with a rival from pharmaceutical group Merck.

The Lilly trial is in the second of three phases of testing generally required for US approval.

The Merck and Roche products are in the final stage. – (Reuters)