India, July 18 -- The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Lipfendra (enlicitide), a once-daily cholesterol-lowering pill developed by Merck.

The drug is the first oral medication in the PCSK9 inhibitor class, offering patients an alternative to injectable therapies that many have found expensive or inconvenient.

The approval comes as heart disease remains the leading cause of death globally. Physicians have long stressed the importance of lowering LDL, commonly known as "bad" cholesterol, especially among patients with a history of heart attack or stroke.

Lipfendra, whose generic name is enlicitide, works by blocking a protein called PCSK9. The protein normally reduces the liver's ability to remove LDL cholesterol from t...