Indication extension can now provide help to two-thirds of all wet AMD patients in Europe
QLT Inc. and Novartis Ophthalmics, the eye health unit of Novartis AG announced today that Visudyne® (verteporfin) therapy was granted marketing authorization from the European Commission (EMEA) for the treatment of occult subfoveal choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD is the leading cause of blindness among people over the age of 50. This European approval includes all patients with subfoveal occult wet AMD with evidence of recent or ongoing disease progression. Occult and classic are terms used to describe different patterns of CNV leakage as seen on fluorescein angiography.
Together, the occult and predominantly classic forms of the disease account for approximately two-thirds of all wet AMD cases at diagnosis. Although only 15% of AMD patients suffer from the wet form of the disease, this type is more aggressive and accounts for approximately 90% of severe vision loss in people over 50. Approximately 500,000 new cases of the wet form of AMD occur each year worldwide and this estimate is expected to grow dramatically as the population ages.
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