Tenpoint eyes presbyopia drug launch after FDA nod

Tenpoint Therapeutics is set to join the US market for drugs to treat presbyopia, taking on rival therapies from AbbVie, Orasis Pharma, and LENZ Therapeutics, after getting FDA approval for its Yuvezzi product.

While relatively late to the market, the Anglo-US company is hoping to capture market share with Yuvezzi as the first two-drug eyedrop for presbyopia, containing both carbachol and brimonidine tartrate, while also offering once-daily dosing.

Presbyopia is a condition that typically starts in middle age and involves difficulty in focusing on near objects. It is caused by a stiffening in the lens of the eye that develops in people after the age of 40, and affects an estimated 128 million people in the US, with some evidence that it is on the increase due to high levels of mobile phone use.

Yuvezzi reaches the market years after AbbVie's Vuity (pilocarpine), which pioneered pharmacological treatment for a condition usually managed using reading glasses or, in some cases, one-off corrective surgery.

Vuity had the market to itself for a couple of years before it was joined by Orasis Pharma's Qlosi in 2023 – also based on pilocarpine but with a lubricant designed to make it more comfortable to apply – and LENZ Therapeutics' Vizz (aceclidine), which was launched last year.

While there was scepticism around the time of Vuity's launch about the sales potential of eyedrops that correct vision in presbyopia for just a few hours, and AbbVie took a sizeable $770 million charge to its accounts in 2022, the year after it launched, resulting from a decision to rein back promotion of the product.

The company still does not break out sales levels, but has worked on expanding its label, getting FDA approval for a second dose after three to six hours. That allowed it to keep pace with Qlosi, which was approved from the off as a twice-daily option.

Orasis is privately-held and also does not disclose sales of its product. LENZ is a public company, however, and reported revenues of $1.6 million with Vizz in the fourth quarter of 2025, from 20,000 prescriptions, following its launch in September.

Vizz can be dosed once-daily and is in the throes of a major marketing campaign fronted by Sex and The City star Sara Jessica Parker, so its commercial progress in 2026 will be watched with interest.

Analysts have suggested that there remains a substantial market opportunity for new presbyopia treatments that offer better efficacy, longer-lasting effects, or greater patient convenience, so Tenpoint's once-daily entrant could expand the market. At one point, the market potential for Vuity was predicted to be in the region of $500 million a year.

While current products either constrict the pupil or inhibit dilation, Yuvezzi does both, allowing longer-lasting effects. In clinical trials, the drug corrected vision for up to 10 hours, with good tolerability, according to Tenpoint.

"People deserve treatments that not only work but also can fit conveniently into their daily lives, and Yuvezzi brings an innovative new option to the presbyopia category," said Henric Bjarke, chief executive of the London and Seattle-based company.