Allergan Multi-Focus Eye Lens Approved

IRVINE — Allergan Inc.’s multi-focus eye lens won the backing of a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel Thursday for use by cataract patients.

The panel voted 10 to 1 to approve the lens, subject to several labeling and patient information conditions. The recommendation now goes to the full FDA, which generally follows the advice of its panels.

Unlike traditional lenses, Allergan’s lens offers multiple focus points that allow patients to see at near distance without glasses following an implant.

Lens implants are used in the surgical treatment of cataracts--an ultimately blinding eye disease in which the lens is progressively clouded by milky or discolored film. The condition generally occurs in the elderly and is most often treated by removing the damaged surface of the eye and replacing it with a synthetic lens implant.