Ophthalmology International Companies Setting Up Gene Therapy

Due to the fact that the European and American policies in recent years have rewarded the development of rare disease drugs with tax deductions for trial expenses and a 7-10 year exclusivity period, coupled with the fact that the pricing of rare disease drugs is often higher, the recent investments and acquisitions of new drugs by the three major overseas ophthalmology companies, AbbVie, Novartis, and Alcon, have been mostly focused on rare ocular hereditary diseases and aging eye diseases.

Investment in drug technology has gradually shifted to gene therapy, utilizing adenovirus technology and various biomarkers for new drug development, with special emphasis on dry eye, glaucoma, macular degeneration, presbyopia, diabetic retinopathy, and neurogenic keratitis, which are rare diseases.