Novartis therapy Lucentis recommended for approval in EU to treat patients with vision loss due to Diabetic Macular Edema
Novartis has received a positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for Lucentis (ranibizumab) for the treatment of patients with visual impairment due to diabetic macular edema (DME).
The submission was supported by data from two Novartis-funded clinical trials, RESTORE and RESOLVE, which showed that Lucentis was superior in providing rapid and sustained visual acuity gain versus sham (dummy therapy) or laser therapy, the current standard of care. The RESTORE study showed patients treated with Lucentis alone or with Lucentis plus laser therapy achieved an average 5.9 letters and 5.5 letters gain in visual acuity at 12 months, respectively, compared to laser-treated patients as measured on a standard ETDRS eye chart.
The RESOLVE study showed that Lucentis-treated patients achieved an average 11.7 letters gain in visual acuity at 12 months compared to sham-treated patients, some of whom received laser treatment.
The pivotal data from RESTORE and RESOLVE are further supported by results of an independent US study conducted by the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network (DRCR.net), showing that at one year nearly 50% of patients' eyes treated with Lucentis and laser therapy improved their visual acuity by 10 letters or more, compared to 28% with laser alone. In addition, the study demonstrated superior gains in visual acuity among Lucentis-treated patients up to two years.
Lucentis was generally well tolerated in clinical studies, either when given as monotherapy or when combined with laser treatment. Its safety profile was consistent with that previously reported in large controlled clinical trials, and in rigorous monitoring since Lucentis was first approved for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Lucentis is currently licensed in more than 85 countries for the treatment of wet AMD.
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