Press Announcements > FDA approves first drug for neurotrophic keratitis, a rare eye disease

Press Announcements > FDA approves first drug for neurotrophic keratitis, a rare eye disease

FDA approves first drug for neurotrophic keratitis, a rare eye disease

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first drug, Oxervate (cenegermin), for the treatment of neurotrophic keratitis, a rare disease affecting the cornea (the clear layer that covers the colored portion of the front of the eye). 

“While the prevalence of neurotrophic keratitis is low, the impact of this serious condition on an individual patient can be devastating,” said Wiley Chambers, M.D., an ophthalmologist in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “In the past, it has often been necessary to turn to surgical interventions; these treatments are usually only palliative in this disease. Today’s approval provides a novel topical treatment and a major advance that offers complete corneal healing for many of these patients.”

Continue reading...