(Reuters) -Drugmaker Merck’s oral drug met the main goal of reducing bad cholesterol in a late-stage trial, it said on Tuesday, marking a second win for the drug since June.
Merck’s non-statin cholesterol drug, enlicitide decanoate, was being tested in patients with hypercholesterolemia, a condition characterized by elevated levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol in the blood, often leading to plaque buildup in the arteries.
In the 24-week trial, the drug showed meaningful reductions in LDL cholesterol, when compared to placebo.
In June, the cholesterol pill succeeded in two late-stage studies when tested for the treatment of hyperlipidemia, a condition that causes elevated buildup of fat in the blood vessels potentially leading to heart attacks and strokes.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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