Acuvue Theravision: The First Contact Lens for Drug Delivery
Acuvue Theravision gets approved just in time with the beginning of spring. March marks the beginning of spring. Trees start pollinating and the allergy season launches. Acuvue Theravision was first approved by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) as being the first combination contact lens that provides vision correction and an antihistamine drug to help relieve symptoms for people experiencing itchy allergy eyes. It has been approved one month later in Canada and today in the United States.
Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Johnson&Johnson Vision Care approval for its ACUVUE Theravision with Ketotifen (etafilcon A drug-eluting contact lens with ketotifen). The contact lens provides vision correction and relief from eye itching. Each lens contains 19 micrograms of ketotifen, a well-established antihistamine, that is meant to be released onto the surface of the eye while the allergic patient is enjoying a perfectly corrected vision a not worrying about carrying his eyedrops with him. The drug effect starts three minutes after wearing the contact lens and lasts for up to 12 hours while the Etafilcon A material allows wearers to wear Acuvue Theravision for more than 12 hours. The lenses are available with spherical powers ranging from -12 to +6 and no toric powers.
“At Johnson & Johnson Vision, we are committed to bringing forward new technologies and innovations that can improve vision and overall eye health,” Johnson & Johnson Vision North America President Thomas Swinnen said in the release. He adds “This approval marks another significant milestone in Johnson & Johnson Vision’s legacy of rethinking what’s possible with contact lenses to meet the visual and eye health needs of people around the world.” Acuvue Theravision is meant to help the 40% of contact lens wearers who suffer from itchy eyes due to allergies. More information on the product are available at Johnson & Johnson Vision website: https://www.jnjvisionpro.ca/products/acuvue-theravision