Keyword: Zetia

Merck’s cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin are a franchise, but they’re also distinct meds with different marketing points. Zetia can be added on to any statin. Vytorin combines Zetia with Merck’s off-patent statin Zocor.

Merck’s big-selling Zetia was launched in 2002, and it did gin up sales quickly; by 2005, Merck and its partner Schering-Plough was reporting $1.5 billion from Zetia. But In 2008, Zetia’s sales fell by 9% to $2.2 billion. Its sales during the final three years of its patent life hovered in the $2.5 billion range.

Cardiovascular drugs may not be the top field in terms of sales or market growth rate. But heart disease and related ailments remain the biggest cause of death in the U.S. We’ve put together this list as a state-of-the-market snapshot, coinciding with the European Society of Cardiology meeting this week.