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Novartis to market anti-VEGF AMD treatment
Novartis Ophthalmics has licensed the international distribution rights to a drug for macular degeneration from Genentech, according to a company press release.
Novartis will be the exclusive marketer outside North America of ranibizumab, Genentech’s anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibody fragment, which is now in development for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration, the company announced late last week. Genentech will retain North American marketing rights to the drug.
The drug, Lucentis, formerly known as rhuFab V2, is in phase 3 U.S. clinical trials. Lucentis is a humanized therapeutic antibody fragment developed to bind and inhibit VEGF, a protein previously found to play a role in angiogenesis.
In October 2002, Genentech released data from a phase 1b/2 study of Lucentis for the treatment of wet AMD; of 54 patients treated with Lucentis, 50 had improved vision compared to baseline, gaining 9 letters on average at day 98.
Genentech began a phase 3 study of the drug for minimally classic and occult AMD in March and began enrolling patients in a phase 3 study for predominantly classic AMD this month.