Poulsbo firm gets FDA OK to treat common eye problem

Clark Tedford has been smiling so much he said his jaw is starting to hurt.

He has good reason to be happy – his company, Lumithera in Poulsbo, a family-owned medical device company, recently received word that the Food and Drug Administration has approved their new product, Valeda, a non-invasive treatment for degenerative eye disease.

“The target we’re going after, age-related macular degeneration, is the largest cause of vision loss in adults over the age of 65,” said Tedford, who has a doctorate in pharmacology. “There aren’t a lot of alternatives for these patients, and over years they’ll lose their vision slowly, and it can be devastating.”