Updated: Merck beats AstraZeneca to approval for first PCSK9 pill

July 16, 2026 06:45 AM EDT PharmaFDA+ Mer­ck beats As­traZeneca to first ap­proval for first PC­SK9 pill Elizabeth Cairns Senior biopharma journalist As in foot­ball, so in phar­ma­ceu­ti­cals: the Eng­lish have been beat­en. Mer­ck has out­paced As­traZeneca in the race to get the first US ap­proval for … Sign up to read this article for free. Get free access to a limited number of articles, plus choose newsletters to get straight to your inbox. SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER