New FDA-approved eye drops fix blurry near vision without glasses
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved VIZZ, the first aceclidine-based eye drop developed to improve near vision in adults with presbyopia — a condition that affects more than 100 million people in the United States, reports a Kazinform News Agency correspondent.
Produced by LENZ Therapeutics, VIZZ is a once-daily ophthalmic solution that provides up to 10 hours of clearer near vision without compromising distance vision or causing significant side effects. The product is expected to become commercially available in the fourth quarter of 2025.
“The FDA approval of VIZZ is a defining moment for LENZ and represents a transformative improvement in the available treatment options for the 128 million adults living with blurry near vision in the United States,” said Eef Schimmelpennink, President and CEO of LENZ Therapeutics.
Unlike earlier treatments such as Vuity, VIZZ uses aceclidine to shrink the pupil and create a “pinhole effect,” enhancing focus on nearby objects without affecting the eye’s focusing muscles. This pupil-selective mechanism helps prevent side effects such as brow heaviness or myopic shift.
“This FDA approval represents a disruptive paradigm shift in treatment options for millions of people who are frustrated and struggling with the inevitable age-related loss of their near vision,” said Dr. Marc Bloomenstein, a clinical investigator from Arizona.
The approval was based on three Phase II clinical trials involving hundreds of participants and more than 30,000 treatment days. VIZZ was well tolerated, with only mild and temporary side effects — such as slight eye irritation or dryness — reported in some cases.
Schimmelpennink emphasized that VIZZ is “uniquely engineered, highly differentiated, and designed to deliver quick onset and lasting benefit for the vast majority of presbyopes,” adding: “This is not only best-in-class, but, frankly, the only one in a class of pupil-selective, ciliary-sparing myotics.”
Earlier, it was reported that the FDA had approved Yeztugo — the first-ever HIV prevention drug to offer nearly 100% protection with only two injections per year.
