US FDA nod for 1st pill to replace jabs to fight high cholesterol

NEW DELHI: Patients with difficult-to-control high cholesterol could soon have an oral alternative to cholesterol-lowering injections after US Food and Drug Administration approved the world's first oral PCSK9 inhibitor , a class of medicines that dramatically lowers "bad" cholesterol.

The tablet, Lipfendra, has been approved for adults with high cholesterol, including those with an inherited condition called heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia.