The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given St. Louis-based Mobius Therapeutics LLC the go-ahead to start production of a drug for use in eye surgery.
Mobius plans to have other St. Louis-area companies make and distribute the new drug, called Mitosol, which is FDA-approved for use in surgeries to treat glaucoma. Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States.
The company also hopes to gain FDA approval for Mitosol to be used in surgeries to treat a rare eye condition called pterygium, in which a patch of tissue obstructs vision inside the eye, and in refractive eye surgeries to correct nearsightedness or astigmatism.
With Wednesday's FDA approval, Mobius can begin the production, distribution and sale of Mitosol immediately.