Patients with difficult-to-control high cholesterol may soon have an oral alternative to injectable cholesterol-lowering drugs after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Lipfendra (enlicitide), the world's first oral PCSK9 inhibitor. The once-daily pill is designed to significantly reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol.
The drug has been approved for adults with high cholesterol, including those with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH), an inherited condition that causes very high cholesterol levels. It is meant to be used alongside diet, exercise and existing cholesterol-lowering medicines. Until now, PCSK9 inhibitors have only been available as injections administered every two or four weeks.
