Novartis’ Vision Loss Drug Nabs Recommendation from UK’s NICE

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended Novartis’s Beovu (brolucizumab) for National Health Service coverage for treating wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

The recommendation was supported by two phase 3 studies that showed the treatment improved patients’ vision starting at four weeks of treatment, with approximately 30 percent of participants who received Beovu gaining the ability to read 15 or more letters by week 48.

Wet AMD causes the formation of abnormal blood vessels underneath the macula, the part of the retina affecting central vision. There are approximately 40,000 new diagnoses in the UK annually.