Alcon IOP-lowering glaucoma treatment approved in EU

Basel, Switzerland-Alcon Laboratories’ brinzolamide 10mg/mL and brimonidine tartrate 2mg/mL (Simbrinza) eye drop formulation have been approved by the European Commission to decrease elevated IOP in adult patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

The treatment, administered with one drop into the affected eyes twice daily, combines the two therapies of brinzolamide and brimonidine for elevated IOP into one, multidose bottle.

“(The treatment) complements Alcon’s glaucoma portfolio by addressing a significant unmet patient need,” said Jeff George, global head of Alcon. “We are so pleased to introduce the only fixed-combination therapy without a beta-blocker to help more glaucoma patients manage their progressive eye condition.”

The launch of the treatment in the European Union will start in the United Kingdom in the third quarter of 2014, followed by other European markets later this year and in 2015. In the United States, the treatment was approved by the FDA and has been available in the market since 2013.

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