Prescriptions for the gene therapy ‘Luxturna,’ which targets only a few patients, are becoming available in South Korea.

According to industry sources, Novartis Korea’s Luxturna (voretigene neparvovec), a therapy used to treat inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD), has cleared the Drug Committee (DC) of the tertiary general hospitals, including Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, Seoul National University Hospital, and Severance Hospital.

Luxturna was first administered at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul among these hospitals.

Luxturna, listed for reimbursement last February, restores function by substituting the RPE65 gene mutation, which is one of the causes of IRD,