Novartis biosimilar targets rivals' Eylea eye treatment

[May 03, 2021]  ZURICH (Reuters) - Novartis's generics arm Sandoz is set to enrol patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) in a late-stage trial of a biosimilar version of Bayer and Regeneron's Eylea, Novartis said on Monday.

The nAMD condition accounts for 10% of age-relatedmacular degeneration cases, but is responsible for 90% of AMD-related blindness, the Swiss group said.

Aflibercept, the generic name for Eylea, is indicated to improve eyesight in patients with nAMD and other specific neovascular retinal diseases.

Biosimilars are essentially cut-rate generic versions of biologic drugs. Sandoz has eight biosimilars on the market and around 15 more in the pipeline.

(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Riham Alkousaa)

[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content