A federal judge has denied a Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. motion that would have blocked regulatory approval of a generic heart failure medication based on Entresto, a lifesaving therapy developed by Novartis.

“The Court is unpersuaded that Novartis’s market share loss will be as high as it anticipates, particularly given the short time frame in which the Court will address the merits of this case,” U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich wrote Tuesday in a memorandum opinion. “Past instances of generic entry into Novartis product markets suggest that generic penetration will be lower than 90%.”