Amarin Corporation plc announced that a clinical trial of Vascepa (icosapent ethyl) capsules in a patient population with severe hypertriglyceridemia (TG ­=500 mg/dL) has been commenced in Mainland China, or China, by Amarin's partner, Eddingpharm. Under the parties' February 2015 agreement, Eddingpharm is responsible for Vascepa development, regulatory activities, commercialization and associated costs, including managing and funding this pivotal registration study. Similar to the MARINE trial conducted by Amarin, the trial being conducted by Eddingpharm in China is a multi-center, placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind, 12-week study that is enrolling patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia, more commonly known as very high triglycerides, or VHTG. The study’s primary endpoint is the percentage change in triglyceride levels from baseline compared to placebo after 12 weeks of treatment. Eddingpharm anticipates that the study will be completed within the next two years. This clinical trial puts Vascepa on track to be the first ever pure prescription grade EPA based drug product in China. The parties believe the commercial opportunity in China is largely based on the prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia, which is estimated to affect around 17.7% of the adult Chinese population, about 185 million people. In November 2010, Amarin reported top-line results for the MARINE trial which met its primary and other key efficacy endpoints. The MARINE trial demonstrated that Vascepa 4g/day significantly lowered triglycerides by 33% compared to placebo without increasing LDL-C (non-significant decrease of 2% vs. placebo). In addition, Vascepa demonstrated a statistically significant decrease compared to placebo in multiple other important lipid biomarkers in MARINE including non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C), apolipoprotein B (apo B), lipoprotein-phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), total cholesterol (TC) and the inflammatory marker high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP).