FDA approval for VYTORIN for the treatment of high LDL cholesterol (LDL-C)

Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved VYTORIN™ (ezetimibe/simvastatin) for the treatment of high LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia or mixed hyperlipidemia as adjunctive therapy to diet when diet alone is not enough.

VYTORIN is the first and only product approved to treat the two sources of cholesterol by inhibiting the production of cholesterol in the liver and blocking the absorption of cholesterol in the intestine, including cholesterol from food. The active ingredients in VYTORIN are ezetimibe and simvastatin. The recommended starting dose of VYTORIN is 10/20 mg (10 mg ezetimibe/20 mg simvastatin).

"Many patients who continue to have high cholesterol despite diet and other lifestyle modifications may require powerful LDL cholesterol-lowering agents and to do this we frequently look to highly efficacious medicines to provide the reduction they need," said Christie Ballantyne, M.D., director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, Methodist DeBakey Heart Center, Houston, TX.