South San Francisco, CA — April 9th, 2026 —
Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Vabysmo® (faricimab-svoa) for the treatment of macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion (RVO) beyond six months. RVO affects over a million Americans and often involves long-term intravitreal therapy to address the chronic nature of the disease.
"This label update reinforces our commitment to delivering consistent, long-term solutions for patients with vision impairment," said Levi Garraway, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. "With Vabysmo’s well-established efficacy, this label update should help minimize disruptive treatment switches in patients with RVO who are benefitting from Vabysmo."
"The updated dosing for Vabysmo empowers retina specialists with the flexibility to tailor treatment plans to each patient's unique journey with RVO," said Veeral Sheth, M.D., Partner and Director of Clinical Research at University Retina and Macula Associates. "By aligning Vabysmo’s label with real-world clinical practice, we can now offer seamless, continuous care that helps support longer-term outcomes for patients living with RVO."
Vabysmo is the first bispecific antibody approved for the eye. It targets and inhibits two signaling pathways linked to a number of vision-threatening retinal conditions by neutralizing angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A). While research is underway to better understand the role of the Ang-2 pathway in retinal disease, Ang-2 and VEGF-A are thought to contribute to vision loss by destabilizing blood vessels, which may cause new leaky blood vessels to form and increase inflammation. By blocking pathways involving Ang-2 and VEGF-A, Vabysmo is designed to stabilize blood vessels.
Vabysmo (faricimab-svoa) is a prescription medicine given by injection into the eye, used to treat adults with neovascular (wet) age‑related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic macular edema (DME) and macular edema following retinal vein occlusion (RVO).
Vabysmo is contraindicated in patients who have an infection in or around their eye, have active swelling around their eye that may include pain and redness, or are allergic to Vabysmo or any of the ingredients in Vabysmo.
The most common adverse reactions (≥5%) reported in patients receiving Vabysmo were cataract (15%) and blood on the white of the eye (conjunctival hemorrhage, 8%). These are not all the possible side effects of Vabysmo.
Patients may report side effects to the FDA at (800) FDA-1088 or http://www.fda.gov/medwatch. Patients may also report side effects to Genentech at (888) 835-2555.
Please see additional Important Safety Information in the full Vabysmo Prescribing Information or visit https://www.Vabysmo.com.
Genentech is researching and developing new treatments for people living with a range of eye diseases that cause significant visual impairment and blindness, including wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic macular edema (DME), diabetic retinopathy (DR), geographic atrophy (GA) and other retinal diseases, including rare and inherited conditions.
Founded more than 40 years ago, Genentech is a leading biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines to treat patients with serious and life-threatening medical conditions. The company, a member of the Roche Group, has headquarters in South San Francisco, California. For additional information about the company, please visit http://www.gene.com.