FRIDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- The first generic version of enoxaparin sodium injection (brand name: Lovenox), a blood-thinning drug designed to prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT), has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Lovenox, FDA-approved in 1993, is made from the blood-thinning drug heparin. The makers of generic drugs that earn the agency's approval must demonstrate that the generics contain the same active ingredients as the brand-name medications.
As with the brand-name drug, generic enoxaparin sodium will include a boxed warning that patients who use the drug and are undergoing certain spinal procedures are at increased risk of spinal or epidural bleeding or bruising that could cause long-term or permanent paralysis.
License to produce the generic version of the drug was granted to Sandoz Inc., based in Broomfield, Colo.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more information about this drug.
