Eli Lilly said its gene-editing therapy VERV-102 reduced cholesterol levels by 62% in participants in an early clinical study, delivering an early signal for a one-time treatment approach to lower LDL (“bad” cholesterol). Lilly acquired the program from Verve Therapeutics in a $1 billion deal. The company reported no treatment-related serious adverse events in the Phase 1 trial, a key datapoint given that Verve paused its first candidate after safety concerns. Lilly’s executives positioned the program as a potential route to prevent heart disease at scale, addressing limitations of lifelong LDL-lowering regimens. While the results remain preliminary, the magnitude of the LDL reduction and the absence of treatment-related serious adverse events set up continued interest in whether durable lipid effects and safety will hold in later studies.