Pharmaceutical Business review

Swiss Agency approves ThromboGenics’ Jetrea to treat vitreomacular traction

In Switzerland, Jetrea will be launched by ThromboGenics’ partner Alcon, a division of Novartis.

Jetrea is the first pharmacological treatment for VMT and was approved by the European Commission (EC) in the European Union (EU) in March 2013.

Alcon, which received rights to commercialize Jetrea outside the US in March 2012, had launched the drug in the UK in April 2013.

The drug is currently available and reimbursed in the UK, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands and Canada.

The company said that first patients have been treated with Jetrea in Belgium, France, Spain and Italy.

In January 2013, ThromboGenics had launched the drug in the US for the treatment of symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion (VMA).

Jetrea has been evaluated in two multi-center, randomized, double-masked Phase III trials conducted in the US and Europe which involved 652 patients with vitreomacular adhesion.

In both the trials, the drug met the primary endpoint of resolution of VMA at day 28.