Japan approves drug for myopic CNV

“Myopic CNV has a poor prognosis and more treatment options are needed to address the urgent medical need for these patients, many of whom are of working age,” Dr Joerg Moeller, Bayer’s head of global development, said.
“A treatment option that could not only prevent permanent vision loss but could also improve visual acuity would have great benefits for patients with pathologic myopia.”
In August, Bayer won European approval for the treatment of diabetic macular eda, the most common cause of vision loss among people with diabetes. That came after the United States Food and Drug Administration approved the drug for the same condition in July. It is behind its main competition in that treatment area.
Lucentis, sold by Roche and Novartis, has been approved for DME in Europe since 2011 and the US since 2012.
But now the FDA has granted Eylea its coveted ‘breakthrough therapy’ designation for treatment of diabetic retinopathy, which opens it up to a quick appraisal process.
There are currently no drugs approved for the condition and it is a large and so potentially very lucrative market. The company has said an estimated 7.7 million people in the US have diabetic retinopathy, compared to about 2.5 million who have DME.
First approved in Novber 2011, in the second quarter Eylea again topped analyst estimates with sales of $415 million, up 26%.
Regeneron sells the drug in the US, while Bayer sells it outside the US. They share profits equally in those markets, except Japan, where Regeneron gets a royalty on net sales.