Ezetimibe + simvastatin (Merck/Schering-Plough)

Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals has developed and launched ezetimibe + simvastatin (Vytorin), a fixed combination tablet of Schering-Plough's cholesterol absorption inhibitor ezetimebe (Zetia), and Merck's HMG CoA reductase inhibitor simvastatin (Zocor), for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. The drug had been launched in Germany and Mexico by April 2004, and, in July 2004, was approved in the US, with expected launch late in 2004.