Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc has secured approval from U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat a common cause of blindness Eylea that will rival Roche Holding AG’s Lucentis, Bloomberg reported.
The company cleared the injection to treat wet age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of vision loss in people 60 and older, the company said.
Yaron Werber, an analyst for Citigroup Inc in New York said, the drug will hit peak sales of $1.1 billion in 2021 as it use is expanded to other eye disorders.
Eylea can be injected every eight weeks, half as often as Basel, Switzerland-based Roche’s Lucentis. “Eylea will cost about $1,850 per dose or $16,000 for a year’s treatment,” said Robert Terifay, senior Vice President for commercial.
The drug will be available for doctors to order Nov 21 and delivered by the next day. Lucentis, which has about 40% of the market, is $2,000 for each monthly injection. Lucentis generated $1.4 billion in sales last year.
The FDA initially delayed its decision on August 16 saying that answers Regeneron provided to the agency on its application regarding manufacturing controls were a major amendment.
Regeneron is a biotechnology company headquartered in Tarrytown, in NewYork, USA. Today, Regeneron is a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company that discovers, commercializes and develops medicines for treating serious medical conditions.
