Watch out Mer­ck: Heron snagged FDA ap­proval on Emend com­peti­tor

San Diego’s Heron Ther­a­peu­tics $HRTX has won FDA ap­proval for Cin­van­ti to pre­vent nau­sea and vom­it­ing for pa­tients on chemo. The drug will di­rect­ly com­pete with Mer­ck’s Emend, as it has bioe­quiv­a­lence — po­ten­tial­ly sans the side ef­fects.

Physi­cians and pa­tients may pre­fer Heron’s new drug over Emend, since it’s free of polysor­bet 80, which is known for in­duc­ing al­ler­gic re­ac­tions, cough­ing up blood, ir­reg­u­lar heart­beat and faint­ing.

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