Humira handed EU approval in pediatric uveitis

The world’s best-selling drug has been approved by the European Commission in a new indication, offering a licensed biologic treatment option to a pediatric patient group that did not have one previously and is at risk of vision loss.

US drugmaker AbbVie’s (NYSE: ABBV) Humira (adalimumab) – best known as a big-selling arthritis drug – has been approved in the European Union for chronic non-infectious anterior uveitis in pediatric patients from two years of age who have had an inadequate response to or are intolerant to conventional therapy, or in whom conventional therapy is inappropriate.

Uveitis is an inflammation of the uvea, which includes the iris, choroid and the ciliary body in the eye. If left untreated, it can lead to vision loss, including cataracts, glaucoma and cystoid macular oedema.