WSJ What’s News - A New Generation of Drugs Could Lower Heart Attack Risk for Millions

Episode Date: May 27, 2026

P.M. Edition for May 27. Pharmaceutical companies have been testing a new type of drug to lower levels of lipoprotein(a); high levels have been linked to heart disease and can’t be lowered with diet and exercise. WSJ reporter Xavier Martinez walks us through how the new drugs work and what is still needed before they can make their way to patients. Plus, Ford’s stock has been surging for the past two weeks, but the reason doesn’t have much to do with cars. Journal autos reporter Ryan Felton discusses. And President Trump says he doesn’t fear political fallout from the Iran war, while the U.S. blockade throttles the Iranian economy. We hear from WSJ Middle East correspondent Benoit Faucon about what that economic pressure means for both sides as they seek a deal for long-term peace. Alex Ossola hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some of the best lessons don't come from a classroom. They come from experience. On The Power of Advice, a new podcast series from Capital Group, you'll hear from CEOs, investors, and founders about how they built careers, took risks, and reinvented themselves. If you're starting your own journey, this is the kind of advice you won't want to miss. Available wherever you get your podcast. Published by Capital Client Group, Inc.

A new class of drugs could help millions of people, lower their risk of heart attacks. If the companies can show the medicine actually works. Let's say that the drugs actually do help translate to better cardiovascular outcomes. They also have to show that they have a meaningful benefit. Plus, Ford's stock is popping for a reason that has nothing to do with cars. And Iran's battered economy is proving a key factor in peace negotiations with the U.S. The Navy is gone. Their Air Force is gone. Everything's gone. and they're negotiating on fumes.

It's Wednesday, May 27th. I'm Alex Ocelah for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines, and business stories that move the world today. Tens of millions of Americans have elevated levels of lipoprotein A, a fatty particle in the blood. It's a variant of LDL, the bad cholesterol, and a driver of heart disease.

Scientists have been chasing treatments for decades, with little to show for it. Now, a new class of drugs has potential. They're currently in trials, and if the drugs work, the companies could be on the verge of the next big market for heart drugs. It's valued at as much as $25 billion a year. Journal reporter Xavier Martinez joins me now with more. Xavier lipoprotein A or LPA has been difficult to treat for a long time. Diet and exercise don't really help because it's genetic.

And other heart drugs like statins can actually raise LPA. What's different about these new drugs? This new generation of drugs that are currently in late-stage trials, they use genetic technology to almost silence the gene that tells the body to produce LPA. So the short version is your liver produces LPA based on genetic instructions, right? These drugs intercept that signal before the liver can act on it. And they tell the liver to stop making so much of the particle. You mentioned that these drugs are in trials right now. How promising are they looking and what still needs to happen before they can go in front of the FDA for approval?

The first phase three or latest stage trial by Novartis is expected to read out anywhere between, you know, in the next couple of weeks to the next couple of months. And there's two companies that are producing drugs that are going to follow this Novartis trial. And those are Amgen and Lilly. The Amgen trial is going to read out. hopefully in the next year or two, while Eli Lilly's trial will read out in 2029 is what it's expected. I should also say Lily is working on a pill version of this drug, and that's expected to be even easier to take up among patients. They don't have to do the injection for people who are afraid of needles or who think that might be too much of a hassle, and that would follow in the 2030s.

Just to be clear on one point here, we know that higher levels of LPA are linked to heart disease, But it's not totally clear yet that a drug that then lowers those levels of LPA will help but cut the risk of heart disease. Is that right? That's true. Modeling has sort of indicated that that is likely the case. But again, there's been many historical examples of drugs that really, really worked on paper and then just didn't turn out to be quite as effective, you know, in the human body. And so part of this is that, okay, let's say that the drugs actually do help translate to better cardiovascular outcomes. they also have to show that they have a meaningful benefit, right?

A 5% relative reduction in the risk of stroke or heart attack, for a lot of analysts, at least, is just not enough. So 13 to 20% would be considered a hit in the industry in terms of insurers covering it and doctors prescribing it. And of course, the FDA approving the drug. That was WSJ reporter, Xavier Martinez. Thanks, Xavier. Thanks so much. Lulu Lemon is making peace with its founder, Chip Wilson. Wilson is a big shareholder.

owning 8.7% of Lulu Lemon shares. And he's criticized the leggings company for years, arguing that it's no longer cool and has given up its lead to new arrivals. For example, last October on CNBC's Squawk Box, he said that the board was too focused on hitting Wall Street's numbers. And it hires people that can deliver specific quarterly numbers. And those people are generally, you know, very good and everything,

but they're not creative. then they tend to use algorithms to buy and sell what's sold the year before. So basically, innovation stops. In December, he launched a proxy fight seeking to overhaul the company's board. Now, Lulu Lemon and Wilson have reached a deal. Wilson will get to name two new directors to the company's board. Plus, the company will add another director with product and brand expertise in apparel. And Wilson, he's agreed to not badmouth Lulu Lemon for 18 months.

its stock closed 2.9% higher. Also higher today, Ford's stock price. It's risen about 30% in the past two weeks, hitting its highest level since August 2022. But the reason doesn't have much to do with cars or trucks. The company recently announced a new energy storage subsidiary called Ford Energy. Ryan Felton, who covers the automotive industry for the journal, says investors are excited because it's an opportunity to capitalize on the AI boom. They had built these factories for making batteries intended for electric vehicles as the EV market took a downturn. They've moved to repurpose that capacity to make batteries for powering artificial intelligence, data centers, power utilities, large industrial customers, and the like. And there's a massive need for this sort of product at the moment and many other competitors. like Tesla, LG Energy. They're working on similar products to meet that sort of need. And there's just this big opportunity. There's a lot of upside.

That was WSJ reporter, Ryan Felton. Oil futures closed at their lowest level in more than a month today. Investors hope that the latest U.S. Iran talks will lead to a deal to end the conflict. U.S. crude futures dropped 5.5% to under $89 a barrel. In stocks, the tech rally slowed down, though the three major U.S. indexes all edged higher. They closed at new records. Coming up, why do tickets to this summer's World Cup cost an arm and a leg? Two state attorneys general intend to find out.

That's after the break. Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees that I don't really need it. Infliction is killing me. But who cares? Big retailers. are making record profits. That's why we support the Durban Marshall credit card bill. See, banks and credit unions help small businesses make payroll.

This bill would cut the vital resources they need. While increasing megastore profits, they deserve it. Don't they? Tell Congress, stop the Durban Marshall money grab for corporate megastores. Paid for it by the Electronic Payments Coalition. Turning to the war with Iran, during a cabinet meeting today at the White House, President Trump said that the country

was miscalculating if they hoped he would back down to avoid a long conflict. The money has no value. Their whole economic system is broken down. They thought they were going to outweigh me, you know, we'll outweigh him. He's got the midterms. I don't care about the midterms. Look what happened last night. What happened last night was, as we mentioned on this morning show, Texas yesterday held a runoff election for the midterms. Trump's pick for Senate, the state's attorney general Ken Paxton, trounced incumbent Senator John Cornyn to win the Republican nomination. Trump also had another message for Iran. He's ready to keep negotiating, but he's not excluding more military action.

And in Iran, the economy is in bad shape. That's proving to be a critical factor in how both Iran and the U.S. are coming to the table to negotiate the war's end. I'm joined now by WS.J Middle East correspondent Benoit Fulkan. Benoit, the U.S. blockade was meant to put pressure on the Iranian regime. Is it having its intended effect? It did work. what is really paradoxical is that during the war where you basically had Iran receiving massive bombings, that period actually was not as damaging for the Iranian economy because all exports continued almost unchanged.

The U.S. blockade on Iran courts is a very different story. It really started to damage the Iranian economy in a much deeper way. Everything that Iranians buy, especially imported goods, are much more expensive. Rice prices, Iranian officials tell me, you know, I've increased. by either 100% or 200% depending on the categories because of the U.S. blockade. And Iranian officials are urging people to conserve fuel, electricity, and water, while more than a million Iranians have been left out of work. That's all going on while the U.S. and Iran are negotiating for a more lasting peace deal,

as opposed to the current temporary ceasefire. Where does that leave both the U.S. and Iran in those discussions? Iran is even more under pressure to find economic relief. They're not getting any substantial or revenue. So you do have a situation where it's more pressing now for Iran to get a deal. That starts with the end of the U.S. blockade, but potentially that also start with commitments to get billions of dollars blocked abroad released to Iran.

On the other hand, they obviously assume that the U.S. have to find an understanding because the longer the home was blockade lasts, the more all crises and the economic pain is going to increase for Western consumers. it's an issue for both sides. Ryan is running out of storage. They have to shut up some of their production, but also the same for a lot of producers in the Persian Gulf. So like the storage face-off is a key trigger for both sides to agree.

That was WSJ Middle East correspondent Benoit Foccon. Thanks, Benoit. Thank you. Elsewhere in the Middle East, Israel has killed Hamas's new military chief, Muhammad Ode. Israel's defense minister said Odeh helped plan the October 7, 2023 attack. The killing came less than two weeks after Israel killed Ode's predecessor. While there's a ceasefire in Gaza, Israel is carrying out a campaign to kill or capture anyone involved in October 7th.

Hamas confirmed Ode's death, saying he was killed along with his wife and two of his children by an Israeli strike on a residential building. And finally, soccer fans looking to score tickets to the upcoming World Cup may have found those seats to be quite expensive, often in the thousands of dollars. and much higher than the prices for games in previous World Cups. We know that FIFA, soccer's governing body, is using demand-driven dynamic ticket pricing, but the process has been opaque. FIFA has released tickets in batches on its website, giving the impression of scarcity. Well, the attorneys general for New York and New Jersey said, Show us those receipts.

Today, they issued subpoenas to FIFA to compel the organization to disclose just how it arrived at those prices. The investigation will also look at other FIFA documents. ticketing practices after fans reported being misled about seat locations and ticket categories. FIFA officials declined to comment. And that's what's news for this Wednesday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Anthony Bansy with supervising producer Tali Arbell. I'm Alex O'SAlef for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a news show tomorrow morning.

Thanks for listening. Isn't home where we all want to be? Reba here for Realtor.com. Number 1 most trusted app. Finding a home is like dating. You're searching for the one. With over 500,000 new listings every month, you can find the one today.

Download therealtor.com app because you're nearly home. Make it real with Realtor.com. Pro's number one most trusted app based on August 2025 proprietary survey. Over 500,000 new listings every month based on average new for sale and rental listings. July 24 to June 2025.