The Eli Lilly drug caused a major drop in the blood levels of Lp(a), but further research is needed to show that it will prevent heart attacks and strokes.

The drug's effects lasted six months with no major side effects, according to new research presented in Chicago Sunday at an American College of Cardiology meeting and also published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The highest dose of an experimental drug developed by Eli Lilly significantly reduced levels of a genetically inherited risk factor for heart disease in a midstage trial, according to data presented at a major medical meeting on Sunday.