{"id":6166,"date":"2026-07-16T12:05:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=6166"},"modified":"2026-07-16T12:05:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:05:30","slug":"mercks-cholesterol-pill-gets-us-fda-approval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=6166","title":{"rendered":"Merck\u2019s cholesterol pill gets US FDA approval"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\n<\/span>Reuters<\/span>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/cite><\/div>\n

\n Merck said on Thursday the U.S. FDA has approved its cholesterol pill, the first of its kind to receive the health regulator\u2019s \u200bnod, bolstering the drugmaker\u2019s efforts to diversify beyond its blockbuster \u200ccancer treatment Keytruda.\n <\/p>

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\n Keytruda is set to lose key patent protections starting in 2028, exposing the company to competition from potential less expensive biosimilar versions of the drug.\n <\/p>\n

\n Lipfendra is \u200ba drug intended to treat patients with hypercholesterolemia, which can \u200bbe identified by elevated levels of LDL, the so-called \u201cbad\u201d cholesterol \u2060in the blood, often leading to plaque buildup in the arteries.\n <\/p>\n

\n With the \u200bU.S. Food and Drug Administration\u2019s approval, Lipfendra, also called enlicitide, would become \u200bthe first oral PCSK9 inhibitor to enter the market, offering an alternative to a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs long dominated by injectables.\n <\/p>\n

\n It works by blocking PCSK9 protein, which \u200bplays a vital role in regulating cholesterol levels, while oral statins, an \u200bolder type of cholesterol medicine, block an enzyme the liver uses to make cholesterol.\n <\/p>\n

\n About \u200cone \u2060in four adults in the U.S. have high LDL cholesterol, according to the American Heart Association.\n <\/p>

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\"An<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
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\nAn illustration of an artery blocked by cholesterol blocked artery.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Mohammed Haneefa Nizamudeen\/iStockphoto\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nDaily pill may lower cholesterol in patients who don\u2019t see enough benefit with statins alone, study finds<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

6 min read<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n The FDA\u2019s decision was based on two late-stage trials, which showed the once-daily pill significantly lowered LDL cholesterol in a broad \u200brange of patients, including \u200bthose with \u2060familial hypercholesterolemia and those already taking statins.\n <\/p>\n

\n The landscape for cholesterol-lowering drugs is currently dominated by PCSK9-inhibitor injectables such as \u200bAmgen\u2019s Repatha, and Regeneron and Sanofi\u2019s Praluent.\n <\/p>\n

\n Lipfendra could have \u201cpeak \u200bsales \u2060potential of tens of billions of dollars,\u201d Scotiabank analyst Louise Chen had said ahead of the approval.\n <\/p>\n

\n Merck\u2019s drug is a recipient of the FDA commissioner\u2019s \u2060National Priority \u200bVoucher program, which is intended to slash \u200breview periods of drugs that are critical to public health or national security.\n <\/p>

Read more Trump immediately fires the new court-appointed top prosecutor in Seattle<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Merck said on Thursday the U.S. FDA has approved its cholesterol pill, the first of its kind to receive the health regulator\u2019s \u200bnod.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"yoast_head":"\nMerck\u2019s cholesterol pill gets US FDA approval - Relocation Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=6166\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Merck\u2019s cholesterol pill gets US FDA approval - Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Merck said on Thursday the U.S. FDA has approved its cholesterol pill, the first of its kind to receive the health regulator\u2019s \u200bnod.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=6166\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-16T12:05:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3c9eb1987b99a1e1ebe0f1c0fab705f9.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"256\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"144\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=6166#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=6166\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be\"},\"headline\":\"Merck\u2019s cholesterol pill gets US FDA approval\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-16T12:05:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=6166\"},\"wordCount\":392,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=6166#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9dfb9b76a4ed5047206649eb49fdf304.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Health\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=6166#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=6166\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=6166\",\"name\":\"Merck\u2019s cholesterol pill gets US FDA approval - 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