The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Lucentis, created by biotech company Genentech, for people suffering with severe nearsightedness.
Lucentis is designed to help people suffering from myopic chorodial neovascularization (mCNV), a condition that causes nearsightedness and can eventually lead to blindness. It is the first anti-vascular drug to be approved by the FDA in the U.S.
“Myopic chorodial neovascularization often strikes adults in the prime of their lives,” Dr. Sandra Homing, chief medical officer and head of global product development at Genentech, said. "With Lucentis, people with this condition now have a new FDA-approved treatment option that has been shown to provide a significant improvement in vision in clinical studies.”
mCNV is a result of the eye growing too long from front to back, which causes nearsightedness. Abnormal blood vessels then grow directly into the retina, and may break and leak blood or fluid into the retina, causing irreversible vision loss.
Symptoms of mCNV include spots, blurred or distorted vision, sudden vision impairment, or sudden difficulty distinguishing colors.
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