Novartis: Business Week selects Visudyne therapy as one of the best products of 2000

Recognition further expands public awareness of new AMD treatment and educates public on devastating eye disease

15-Dec-2000

CIBA Vision, the eye care unit of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS), and QLT Inc. (NASDAQ: QLTI; TSE: QLT) announced today that Visudyne, their breakthrough medical treatment for the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 50 in the Western world, has been selected by Business Week magazine as one of its "Top Products of 2000."

Visudyne (verteporfin for injection) therapy, used to treat patients with a certain type of the "wet form" of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April of this year. It is one of only 28 products to make Business Week's prestigious list and the only pharmaceutical drug therapy to be featured in the December 18 issue—already in circulation.

The editors used a number of criteria to make their selections for this year's finalists. Selections were based on products that either make a significant difference in consumers' lives, innovations that have no competitive equal, or products that are considered "breakthrough."

"Visudyne has been a remarkable success story this year," said Dan Myers, President of CIBA Vision's North American Ophthalmics group. "Recognition in Business Week further expands the public's awareness of this important treatment for AMD and draws greater awareness of this devastating eye disease."

Dr. Julia Levy, QLT's President and Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are delighted that Business Week has recognized Visudyne as one of its top products of the year. As the first approved therapy for these patients with this devastating type of AMD, Visudyne provides new hope to many of the 200,000 Americans who lose their vision from wet AMD every year."

Visudyne therapy is designed to treat a certain type of wet AMD, a disease characterized by the formation of abnormal blood vessels that grow under the central part of the retina known as the macula. These vessels leak fluid and eventually cause scar tissue, which destroys central vision. Visudyne therapy is a two-step procedure that can be performed in a doctor's office. First, Visudyne is injected intravenously into the patient's arm. It is then activated by shining a non-thermal laser light into the patient's eye.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/520/novartis-business-week-selects-visudyne-therapy-as-one-of-the-best-products-of-2000.html