Novartis Receives Chinese Approval for Lucentis

Novartis received Chinese regulatory approval for its eye drug Lucentis, and it is launching the diabetes treatment Galvus in China.

Swiss drugmaker Novartis announced yesterday its regulatory approval in China from the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) for its eye drug Lucentis, a treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration.

The disease can cause blindness and severe vision loss, and Novartis estimates that there are more than 300,000 new cases of it every year in China.

The drugmaker also said it is launching Galvus, an oral diabetes treatment, approved to be used in China as an addition to type 2 diabetes treatment metformin.

Novartis said as many as 75 million people have uncontrolled type 2 diabetes in China, and the number of people with diabetes has quadrupled in recent yea