The FDA has approved a new daily cholesterol pill that works in a different way from those popular statins, and apparently may be able to deliver better results, at least for some people. For details, we have Dr. Corey Bradley, a cardiologist at Columbia University's Irving Medical Center right here in New York. Dr. Bradley, thank you for being here. So the drug is called Lipfendra. What do we know about it?

So Lipfendra, or enlicitide, its generic name, is a once-daily pill that's of the class PCSK9 inhibitors. We've had other drugs in this class, but this is new because it's the first of its kind in that it's a daily oral medication.

How is it different from statins?

So statins work in the liver by preventing our body from making cholesterol. That allows our liver then to reabsorb more cholesterol out of our bloodstream. This drug works a little bit differently by binding this protein called PCSK9, and we know that it's been a very effective way to lower LDL cholesterol for a lot of patients so far who've received the injectable medications.

So is the biggest difference here and the selling point just now it's a pill, it used to be a needle?

Exactly. And that's helpful for some patients who are either scared of needles, or for whatever reason don't like the idea of injecting themselves. And also hopefully with cost. I think that having an oral option will probably be cheaper in the long run than the cost of the injectables, which has been prohibitive for some patients.

Dr. Bradley, thank you very much.

Thanks so much.