VABYSMO® (faricimab injection) Pre-Filled Syringe Now Publicly Funded through Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) Program

Vabysmo now covered across all three approved indications in the province, giving patients a comprehensively funded option for their needs

MISSISSAUGA, ON, Nov. 4, 2025 /CNW/ - Hoffmann-La Roche Limited (Roche Canada) is pleased to announce today that VABYSMO^® (faricimab injection) Pre-Filled Syringe (PFS) is now publicly funded though the Ontario Drug Benefit Program.¹  Vabysmo PFS received Health Canada authorization for use in a 6 mg single-use pre-filled syringe in December 2024.²  

"We are pleased this milestone provides ophthalmologists and patients in Ontario with public access to this ready-to-use format of Vabysmo," said Simon Yunger, Director, Market Access and Pricing, Roche Canada Pharmaceuticals. "This decision is a result of our commitment to payers and healthcare providers to ensure the availability of the latest vision care treatment options."

With this listing, Vabysmo is now covered in Ontario for all three of its indications and in both vial and pre-filled syringe formats, for neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), diabetic macular edema (DME), and the latest, macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO). These leading causes of vision loss affect around 70 million people worldwide and can have a serious impact on patients, their families, and caregivers.^3,4,5,6

"I am happy to now have the new Vabysmo pre-filled syringe (PFS) as it offers the established VEGF- and ANG-2 inhibition from Vabysmo in a ready-to-use delivery system," said Dr. David T. Wong, Ophthalmologist-in-Chief and Associate Professor, Unity Health at St. Michael's Hospital. "The availability of this format will help us to improve clinic efficiency and patient care."

Roche Canada is committed to continuing to work with remaining provincial jurisdictions to make Vabysmo available through public and private drug plans for those living with vision loss.

About Vabysmo® (faricimab injection)
Vabysmo is a humanized bispecific immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) antibody that acts through inhibition of both Ang-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A). By inhibiting VEGF-A, faricimab suppresses endothelial cell proliferation, neovascularization and vascular permeability. By inhibiting Ang-2, faricimab is thought to increase vascular stability and desensitize blood vessels to the effects of VEGF-A. Ang-2 levels are increased in some patients with wet AMD, DME, and RVO. ² In Canada, Vabysmo is authorized for the treatment of neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), diabetic macular edema (DME), and macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO).²  To date, Vabysmo is approved in more than 100 countries for DME and nAMD, and in over 30 countries for macular edema following retinal vein occlusion (RVO).^{7,8,9,10,11,12}

About Roche Canada 
At Roche Canada, patients and science are at the heart of everything we do. Our passion for science and our commitment to relentlessly pursuing the impossible for patients have made us one of the world's leading pharmaceutical, in-vitro diagnostics, and diabetes care management companies.

With our combined strength in diagnostics and pharmaceuticals, we're driving healthcare forward, while ensuring we deliver meaningful benefits for patients and sustainable healthcare systems. We are committed to creating a world where we all have more time with the people we love.

And we're adding our expertise in new areas, such as artificial intelligence, real world data collection and analysis and collaborating with many different sectors and industries.

Having the courage to reinvent ourselves and question the status quo is what patients and healthcare systems expect from Roche - and our commitment is as strong today as it was on the first day of our Canadian journey in 1931. Today, Roche Canada employs nearly 2,000 people at its offices in Mississauga, Ontario, in Laval, Quebec, and across the country from coast to coast to coast.

For more information, please visit www.RocheCanada.com or follow Roche Canada on LinkedIn.

References

¹ Ontario Drug Benefit Program.  Available at: https://www.ontario.ca/files/2025-10/moh-ontario-drug-benefit-odb-formulary-edition-43-summary-en-2025-10-24.pdf.  Accessed on October 24,  2025.

² Vabysmo Product Monograph, July 25, 2025

³ Song P, et al. Global epidemiology of retinal vein occlusion: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence, incidence, and risk factors. J Glob Health. 2019; 9:010427. Song P, et al. Global epidemiology of retinal vein occlusion: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence, incidence, and risk factors. J Glob Health. 2019; 9:010427.

⁴ Yau JWY, et al. Global prevalence and major risk factors of diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes Care. 2012; 35:556–64.

⁵ Connolly E, et al. Prevalence of age-related macular degeneration associated genetic risk factors and 4-year progression data in the Irish population. Br J Ophthalmol. 2018;102:1691–95.

⁶ Bright Focus Foundation. Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Facts & Figures [Internet; cited October 2025]. Available from: https://www.brightfocus.org/macular/article/age-related-macular-facts-figures. Accessed on October 24, 2025.

⁷ U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Highlights of prescribing information, aflibercept 2 mg. 2022. [Internet; cited October 24, 2025]. Available from: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2022/125387s076lbl.pdf.  Accessed on October 24, 2025.

⁸ FDA. Highlights of prescribing information, Vabysmo. 2022. [Internet; cited October  2025]. Available from: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2023/761235s003lbl.pdf. Accessed on October 24, 2025.

⁹ FDA approves Genentech's Vabysmo for the treatment of RVO [Internet; cited October 24, 2025]. Available from: https://www.gene.com/media/press-releases/15009/2023-10-26/fda-approves-genentechs-Vabysmo-for-the-treatment-of-RVO.  Accessed on October 24, 2025

¹⁰ Chugai obtains regulatory approval for Vabysmo, the only bispecific antibody in the ophthalmology field, for additional indication of macular edema associated with RVO. [Internet; cited October 2025]. Available from: https://www.chugai-pharm.co.jp/english/news/detail/20240326160000_1054.html.  Accessed on October 24, 2025.

¹¹ European Medicines Agency. Summary of product characteristics, Vabysmo, 2022 [Internet; cited October 2025]. Available from: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/product-information/Vabysmo-epar-product-information_en.pdf.  Accessed on October 24, 2025.

¹² Roche Data on File

SOURCE Hoffmann-La Roche Limited (Roche Canada)

Media Contact: Jennifer Mota, Communications Manager, Hoffmann-La Roche Limited (Roche Canada), 437-219-7806, [email protected]