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Disease

Myopia

Late-stage therapeutic developmentEmerging researchCooling momentum
6
Publications
18
Clinical trials
2024
Latest publication
Latest activity
beta

Recent clinical, regulatory, research and industry developments relating to this disease.

What's happening now

An analyst briefing on current research, clinical, regulatory and industry activity surrounding this disease.

Clinical Milestones7View
Activity timeline7

Therapeutic landscape

Therapies with a regulatory footing for this condition, alongside the wider set of agents co-studied with it in the literature.

Approved & established therapies

Approval — Ryjunea is indicated for slowing the progression of myopia in paediatric patients. Treatm… (2025)

Clinical trials

17 sponsors · 4 new · 3 completed in the last 12 months (net +4)

The current development programme across all trial phases.

Clinical programme
18
All trials
6
Active
15
Late-stage
6
Completed
Late-stage studies
Recruiting
Recently completed

Regulatory timeline

Drug regulatory events matched to this condition by indication — EMA.

First approvals
2025emaApprovalAtropine sulfate· Ryjunea is indicated for slowing the progression of myopia in paediatric patients. Treatment may be initiated in children aged 3-14 years with a progression rate of 0.5 D or more per year and a severity of -0.5 D to -6.0 D. source ↗

European Medicines Agency (CC BY 4.0). Events are matched to this condition by drug indication text — approvals/updates for drugs indicated for it, not disease-specific acts.

Research activity

6 papers

Key research shaping understanding of this disease, combining the latest publications with the most influential evidence.

Publications over time
20122024
Most influential

Scleral hypoxia is a target for myopia control.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2018 · 408 cites

A 3-year Randomized Clinical Trial of MiSight Lenses for Myopia Control.

Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry · 2019 · 349 cites

Seven-year changes in corneal power and aberrations after PRK or LASIK.

Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2012 · 30 cites
Recent publications

A 3-year Randomized Clinical Trial of MiSight Lenses for Myopia Control.

Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry · 2019 · 349 cites

Scleral hypoxia is a target for myopia control.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2018 · 408 cites

Seven-year changes in corneal power and aberrations after PRK or LASIK.

Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2012 · 30 cites
Major themes8
  • Cataract1
  • Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic1
  • Dementia1
  • Epidemiologic Studies1
  • Hypoxia1
  • Keratomileusis, Laser In Situ1
  • Photorefractive Keratectomy1
  • Signal Transduction1
Leading journals5
  • Investigative ophthalmology & visual science2
  • BMC ophthalmology1
  • JAMA network open1
  • Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry1
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America1
Leading researchers8
  • Andrews SJ1
  • Brenowitz WD1
  • Buto PT1
  • Casaletto K1
  • Chamberlain P1
  • Chen W1
  • Choquet H1
  • Deng L1
Affiliations (unnormalised)6
  • Aarhus University Hospital1
  • Boston University1
  • Brien Holden Vision Institute and School of Optometry and Vision Science1
  • Centre for Eye Research Australia; Ophthalmology1
  • Centre for Ocular Research and Education1
  • Children's University Hospital1

Disease profile

A grounded synthesis of the condition — overview, causes, mechanism, risk factors and current standard of care.

Overview

Myopia is a refractive error in which incoming parallel light is focused in front of the retina when accommodation is relaxed. It is also called nearsightedness and is commonly classified in research as myopia, secondary myopia, axial myopia, or refractive myopia. The literature also distinguishes low and high myopia, and defines pre-myopia as a state relevant to prevention research.

Causes

Myopia can result from an overly curved cornea or from an eyeball that is too long from front to back. The reviewed literature also indicates that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to its development and rising prevalence. Secondary myopia is recognized as a distinct descriptive category in research classifications.

Pathophysiology

The core mechanism is an optical mismatch that places the focal point anterior to the retina rather than on it. This is associated with altered ocular refraction, including axial elongation or increased corneal curvature. The literature on myopia also centers on visual acuity and ocular refraction as key biological and clinical features.

Risk factors

Early onset in children is associated with greater risk of later complications, including progression to high myopia and myopic macular degeneration. The epidemiology literature identifies both genetic and environmental factors as contributors to risk. School-age children are a major focus of risk research because of the high prevalence and progression observed in this group.

AI-generated summary grounded in MeSH and 2 peer-reviewed sources. Informational only — not medical advice. Generated 2026-07-07.

Reference

Authoritative identity, definition & identifiers.

Defined in MeSH

A refractive error in which rays of light entering the EYE parallel to the optic axis are brought to a focus in front of the RETINA when accommodation (ACCOMMODATION, OCULAR) is relaxed. This results from an overly curved CORNEA or from the eyeball being too long from front to back. It is also called nearsightedness.

Identifiers
References & data sources
  • Disease identity & definition — NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), public domain
  • Clinical trials — ClinicalTrials.gov (U.S. National Library of Medicine)
  • Research activity — Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI) + OpenAlex-derived paper links
  • Related entities are derived from literature co-mention (studied together) — associative, not causal.