Companies launch first generic versions of Merck’s cholesterol-lowering medication
Impax Laboratories and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industires announced April 26 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the their generic versions of ezetimibe/simvastatin (Vytorin), an oral cholesterol-lowering medication.
Impax said it would manufacture and market 10 mg/10 mg, 10 mg/40 mg and 10 mg/80 mg generic versions of the medication. Teva also said it had launched a generic version of the drug.
These are the first two generic versions of ezetimibe/simvastatin, which Merck launched in 2004.
For the 12 months ending February 2017, ezetimibe/simvastatin had sales of approximately $678 million in the U.S., according to IMS Health.
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.