Crossword Genius

Item of data on popular type of drug (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

statin

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'type of drug' is the definition.
'statin' can be an answer for 'drug' (type of drug). I am not sure about the 'type of' bit.

'item of data on popular' is the wordplay.
'item of data' becomes 'stat' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (in a down clue, letters appear on others).
'popular' becomes 'in' ('in' can mean trendy).
'stat'+'in'='STATIN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for statin that I've seen before include "Cholesterol-reducing drug" , "Drug reducing cholesterol" , "Cholesterol-lowering drug" , "Drug given to reduce blood cholesterol" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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