Manufacturer: Merck Prescribed for: Lowering total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol in patients with hyperlipidemia U.S. patent expiry in: December 2016Zetia, approved by the FDA in 2002, belongs to a class of drugs called selective cholesterol absorption inhibitors. The drug logged sales of $2.53 billion in 2015, which represents just a little over 6% of the company’s total sales. Glenmark, Mylan and Teva will be launching generic Zetia in December 2016.Merck has 2 combination products containing Zetia namely, Liptruzet, which is a combination of Zetia and generic version of Lipitor, and Vytorin, which is a combination of Zetia and Zocor.