Novartis’ Lucentis granted new EU indication

Novartis' eye drug Lucentis has been granted with a new indication by the European Commission (EC).

Lucentis (ranibizumab) is now approved to treat patients with visual impairment due to choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to pathologic myopia (myopic CNV).

Pathologic myopia is a major cause of vision loss worldwide, affecting 1-3% of the general population. CNV is the most common vision-threatening complication of high myopia.

The EC's decision makes Lucentis the first anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy licensed for four indications in the European Union.

Lucentis is currently licensed for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) in over 100 countries around the world. It's also approved for visual impairment due to macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO), including both branch- and central-RVO.

"We are committed to fully understanding medical retina and to serving unmet patient needs. This fourth indication for our pioneering ophthalmology drug, Lucentis, shows how far we have come since it was first launched in 2006. We expect that the use of Lucentis will significantly change the treatment of myopic CNV, as it is the first and only licensed treatment that has been proven to restore vision in patients with visual impairment due to myopic CNV."

Tim Wright, Global Head of Development, Novartis Pharmaceuticals.

Lucentis was developed by Genentech and Novartis – Genentech has the commercial rights to the drug in the United States, while Novartis has exclusive rights in the rest of the world.