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Lucentis receives European approval to treat several choroidal neovascularization conditions
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Novartis announced that the European Commission approved an additional indication for Lucentis to treat patients with visual impairments stemming from choroidal neovascularization due to causes other than neovascular age-related macular degeneration or secondary to pathologic myopia.
According to a company press release, the approval is applicable to all 28 European member states and Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland. Lucentis (ranibizumab) is the first retinal treatment approved for these conditions.
“This confirms Lucentis as standard of care in diseases of the retina,” Paul Hudson, CEO of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, said in the release. “With this approval, Lucentis is the only treatment available for a wide range of CNV conditions.”
The approval was based on the positive opinion of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use. The submission was supported by data from the MINERVA study, a Novartis-sponsored study that showed ranibizumab treatment led to a significant visual acuity gain of approximately 10 letters at 2 months. These gains were seen throughout the 1-year study, according to the release.