Bayer HealthCare’s VEGF Trap-Eye receives CHMP backing

Bayer HealthCare has received a recommendation from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for approval of its drug VEGF Trap-Eye.

The treatment is being endorsed for use against neovascular or wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), following on from its approval last year in the US, where it is being sold under the name Eylea.

Developed by Bayer HealthCare and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, the therapy involves an aflibercept ophthalmic injection that can combat the effects of wet AMD, a leading cause of acquired blindness.

VEGF Trap-Eye is also being tested as a potential therapy for diabetic macular oedema and myopic choroidal neovascularisation in phase III trials.

Dr Kemal Malik, member of the Bayer HealthCare executive committee and head of global development, said: "We soon expect to be able to offer wet AMD patients and their physicians this new treatment option."

Last month, the company received an EU label extension for the imaging agent Gadovist 1.0, allowing it to be used in magnetic resonance imaging of the whole body.