European regulators have again expanded the use of Bayer and Regeneron’s Eylea with an approval to treat visual impairment due to myopic choroidal neovascularisation, an eye disease associated with high degrees of myopia (near-sightedness).
Myopic CNV is characterised by an abnormally elongated eye with a physical stretching of the sclera, choroid and retina, resulting in degenerative and progressive changes impacting vision, and often affects people of working age.
According to Joerg Moeller, results of a Phase III study of Eylea (aflibercept) in the target population “were very encouraging with the majority of patients experiencing a significant two-line improvement in visual acuity on a standard eye chart with aflibercept solution for injection”.
“A treatment option that could not only prevent permanent vision loss, but also improve visual acuity could have great benefits for patients with myopic CNV,” he noted.
Bayer said it is planning an immediate launch for Eylea – a vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor formulated as an injection for the eye – for myopic CNV with Germany being one of the first launch countries in Europe.
In the EU, Eylea is already approved for the treatment of patients with wet age-related macular degeneration, visual impairment due to diabetic macular oedema, and visual impairment due to macular oedema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (branch RVO or central RVO).
