Merck and Schering-Plough plan to develop a new cholesterol drug that combines their Zetia with atorvastatin, the active ingredient in Pfizer's Lipitor [1]. Their plan is to introduce the new combo pill once Lipitor, which earned $12.9 billion last year alone, loses patent protection as early as 2010 [2]. It's likely to be a successful formula. Vytorin, which combines Zetia with Merck's Zocor, earned $2 billion in U.S. sales last year. Merck says data indicates that a combination of Lipitor and Zetia works significantly better than Lipitor alone.

- see the press release [3] for more
- read the report AP report [4] on the new drug

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