Panel is positive on Bausch & Lomb pink eye drug

NEW YORK - A Food and Drug Administration is recommending approval for Bausch & Lomb's pink eye drug besifloxacin, the eye care products maker said Friday.

Bausch & Lomb said the FDA's Dermatologic and Ophthalmic Drugs Advisory Committee voted unanimously to recommend approval for besifloxacin 0.6 percent ophthalmic suspension as a treatment for bacterial conjunctivitis. While the FDA is not required to follow its panel rulings, it generally does so.

Bausch & Lomb plans to start marketing besifloxacin in the U.S. in 2009, pending FDA approval.

Conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva, a membrane that lines the eyelid and part of the eyeball and temporarily gives the eye a pink or reddish tinge. The condition can be caused by bacteria or viruses.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.