Following its FDA approval¹ on Oct. 7, 2025, SQ Innovation, Inc.’s Lasix ONYU (furosemide injection) can now be purchased via Cardinal Health's Specialty Pharmaceutical Distribution (SPD) and Cencora's Specialty Distribution.² Cardinal Health and Cencora represent two of “Big Three,” drug wholesalers, with McKesson being the third.

Aside from that, the biopharma company signed a Medicaid national drug rebate agreement (NDRA) with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). As a result, Lasix ONYU can now be purchased by 340B-eligible hospitals, pharmacies, and medical facilities.

What is Lasix ONYU approved to treat and how is it used?

The product was approved to treat edema associated with fluid overload in adults with chronic heart failure. The injection allows eligible patients to administer treatment at home under a clinician’s prescription, eliminating the need for in-person administration by a healthcare professional.

"We are pleased to announce that Lasix ONYU is now available for ordering through our leading US distribution partners," commented Pieter Muntendam, MD, founder, president, and CEO of SQ Innovation. "By ensuring broad availability through Cardinal Health and Cencora at a cost-effective price point, we are eliminating two of the most significant barriers to making the home the preferred setting of care for selected patients with worsening heart failure due to fluid overload. With distribution now in place, we can focus our efforts on partnering with the clinical community to develop evidence-based care pathways and support tools for at-home treatment of appropriate patients."

How do specialty distributors like Cencora support new drug launches?

For Cencora, the wholesaler has a philosophy and typical process for partnering with manufacturers to co-create and pilot a new solution, from the late-stage clinical phase through commercial launch.

One of the key pieces is really spending time with our manufacturer customers, listening, engaging with them. We attend conferences, we sit in on many meetings with them, and we really take an outside approach, so active listening,” explained Tina Martinez, the company’s vice president and head of global products and solutions, in a recent chat with Pharma Commerce. “What are the challenges they're trying to solve daily, and how can we potentially support them sitting at the center of supply chain where we do? Really thinking through also all of the assets we have within our enterprise.

“ … We can come up with solutions all day long, but if we're not doing it with a customer, we're not going to be successful. So really thinking through everything starts and ends with customer feedback, and once we have identified a potential product or a solution, it’s really important to pilot that with the customer and have a user feedback loop so we continuously iterate on the product to ensure this is exactly what they're looking for. One example of that is a dedicated virtual warehouse. This is a solution that was developed based on feedback from upstream customers, downstream customers on really wanting more transparency and visibility into the supply chain. This solution … allows for virtual sequestration of products for a customer. When we started this work, we had a completely different solution in mind, but went back to the basics again of really defining and validating that problem. We recognize that if we're going to be successful in building this solution, it can't be a manual process.”

References

1. SQ Innovation Announces FDA Approval of Lasix ONYU for Treatment of Edema in Heart Failure. SQ Innovation, Inc. October 8, 2025. Accessed February 9, 2026. https://sqinnovation.com/fda-approval/

2. SQ Innovation's Lasix ONYU Now Available for Order Through Major U.S. Pharmaceutical Distributors. PR Newswire. February 9, 2026. Accessed February 9, 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sq-innovations-lasix-onyu-now-available-for-order-through-major-us-pharmaceutical-distributors-302682200.html