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 Beovu injections are used to treat wet age-related macular
degeneration, a condition which can eventually lead to blindness and
affects around 20 million people worldwide, the company said.
Beovu is a key drug for Novartis in its eye care franchise as the
Lucentis product the company sells in Europe nears the end of its
patent life.
In a highly competitive market Beovu will compete with Lucentis,
Bayer's Eylea and a new product that Novartis rival Roche has under
development.
Beovu needs to be used less frequently than existing treatments and
can be effective if used every three months, Novartis said.
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Frequent injections are a major reason why patients stop treating
the condition, which is caused by abnormal blood vessels forming in
the eye and leaking fluid, damaging part of the retina.
"With Beovu, greater fluid reduction was demonstrated through larger
decreases in retinal thickness and a higher proportion of patients
with drier retinas," said Pravin Dugel, from the University of
Southern California, which carried out one of the clinical trials.
"Coupled with the potential to treat patients with quarterly
injections, this approval may change the way we approach the
treatment of wet AMD," he added.
(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Michelle Martin
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