Getting your player ready...
TRENTON, N.J. — The first combination pill for the millions of people with the dangerous combination of diabetes and high cholesterol won U.S. approval Friday, offering convenience — and savings — to patients taking multiple pills.
Juvisync, developed by Merck & Co. Inc., will be launched in a few weeks. It combines Merck’s Type 2 diabetes pill Januvia with Zocor, a former Merck blockbuster in the widely used class of cholesterol drugs called statins.
The combination pill will sell for the same price as Januvia alone, about $215 per month. Generic versions of Zocor cost roughly $30 a month.
Guidelines from the American Diabetes Association recommend that diabetics who have heart disease or are over age 40 take a statin pill daily.
