Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. is a publicly traded American pharmaceutical company focused on the development of bempedoic acid, an orally available small molecule designed to lower elevated levels of LDL-C.

The first Esperion was founded in 1998 by Dr. Roger Newton to focus on the in-licensing and development of drugs to modulate HDL cholesterol (HDL-c).

It's believed this was a defensive move by Pfizer to prevent ETC-216 (apoA-1 Milano, Esperion's lead drug candidate) from falling into competitors' hands.

However, almost 3 years later, in late 2006, Pfizer's CETPi drug (torcetrapib) failed in the final stages of clinical development.

[9] Further products include NILEMDO (also a ATP Citrate Lyase inhibitor like NEXLETOL) and NUSTENDI (bempedoic acid and ezetimibe like NEXLIZET).