A couple of possibilities that have been in my mind the past few months/weeks/days:
- A potential partner wanted the recent in vitro kidney study before committing to a trial.
- The drug has a problem. When potential partners review the raw data, they get scared off.
- Drug companies largely don't see apabetalone as being as much as a priority / too high a risk than other drugs in development; i.e. too much competition for scarce research dollars.
- RVX waited until the warrants became worthless before moving forward, in an effort not to dilute the main shareholders' holdings.
If I were to guess, I'd guess #3 personally. No question RVX has been floundering since 2019.