Merck & Co. Inc. might be the fourth or fifth big pharma to bring a Lipoprotein(a)-lowering therapy to the market with HRS-5346, the drug it just licensed from Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals for $200m up front, but it is in the running to be the first or second with an oral drug. The company already is waiting for a big bet to play out in the space, with Phase III results for its oral lipid-lowering PCSK9 inhibitor enlicitide decanoate (MK-0616) expected this year.
Merck Doubles Down On Oral Lipid-Lowering Drugs With Hengrui’s Lp(a) Asset
HRS-5346 Is In Phase II In China
Merck & Co., which already has an oral PCSK9 inhibitor in Phase III, licensed Hengrui’s Lipoprotein(a)-lowering small molecule HRS-5346 outside of Greater China for $200m up front.
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