Vevizye is a brand-new ciclosporin drop (called Vevye in the US), and I've just started using it after years of struggling with iKervis. It's early days, but the one thing everyone wants to know is already clear: it barely stings.
If you've read my iKervis piece, you'll know my history with ciclosporin drops has been rocky. The science is sound (ciclosporin calms the inflammation driving my dry eye), but every version I'd tried stung so much that I could never stay on it long enough to feel the benefit. So when a brand-new one came along, I was very keen to try it.
Vevizye is ciclosporin 0.1%, the same active drug as iKervis, but in a completely different, water-free formulation. It's made by Théa and Novaliq, and it was approved across the EU in September 2024. In the US the same drop is sold as Vevye.
The clever part is the delivery. Instead of being watery, it uses an oil-like, water-free base that's designed to sit on the surface of your eye for longer and carry the ciclosporin in more gently. And practically, it comes in a dropper bottle that lasts about a month, not the fiddly single-use vials iKervis comes in.
Before Vevizye, I'd been through iKervis: the sting was the reason I kept giving up on it. My optometrist, Mr Matheson, then gave me a couple of free vials of Cequa (another ciclosporin) to see if it stung any less for me. It didn't. It was about the same. So by the time Vevizye came along, I'd basically concluded that stinging was just the price of ciclosporin, and that I might never manage to stick with it.
And this is the headline. Vevizye has been much, much less irritating than iKervis or Cequa. There's maybe a very minor bit of something as it goes in, but honestly nothing compared to the others. It's a totally different experience.
There's a slightly strange side to the oil-based formula, mind you: sometimes I can't really feel that it's gone in at all. It doesn't have that obvious "a drop just went in my eye" sensation you get with a normal water-based drop. It took a little getting used to, but I'll happily take "can't feel it" over "stings like mad."
Here's the thing people underestimate. Ciclosporin isn't instant: you have to use it consistently, night after night, before you know if it's helping. And you simply won't keep doing that if every single dose hurts. Tolerability is what makes consistency possible.
That's exactly where I've failed before: I never held out long enough, because of the sting. So for me, the real promise of Vevizye isn't that it's a different drug; it's that it might be the first version I can actually keep using long enough to find out whether ciclosporin works for me. The dropper bottle helps too: it's far more convenient than carrying a strip of vials around, especially as I travel a lot.
I'll be completely straight with you: I've only been on Vevizye for about two weeks, so it is far too early to say whether it's improving my dry eye itself. Encouragingly, when I read the leaflet that came with mine, it said symptoms should start to improve at around four weeks, which would be far quicker than the up-to-six-months you often hear about with older ciclosporin like iKervis. That fits the official prescribing information too: in Vevizye's pivotal trials, a significant improvement in the eye surface was measured by around day 29. I'm not there yet, and I'm not going to pretend I've had some overnight miracle, but it's a hopeful sign. What I can say already is that on comfort and ease of use, it's a big step up. I'll come back and update this piece as the weeks go on and I know more.
Mr Matheson suggested I buy a bottle to trial, which cost me £92 for one bottle, about a month's worth, so roughly the same as iKervis was on a private prescription. If it suits me, the plan is for him to write to my GP, the same route that got my iKervis onto an NHS prescription, so I can hopefully get Vevizye funded rather than paying that every month. Fingers crossed. (If you're paying privately for ciclosporin, it's always worth asking your specialist whether they'll write to your GP.)
On the two things I can judge this early, comfort and convenience, Vevizye is the best ciclosporin drop I've used by a mile. Whether it actually helps my eyes is the bigger question, and I don't have that answer yet. But because it doesn't sting, I finally believe I'll stick with it long enough to find out, which, after years of giving up, feels genuinely hopeful. Watch this space; I'll update as I go.
Is Vevizye the same as Vevye?
Yes. They're the same drug, water-free ciclosporin 0.1%, just sold under different names in different places. In the UK and Europe it's Vevizye; in the US it's Vevye. So any American reviews of "Vevye" are describing the same drop I'm using.
Does Vevizye sting?
For me, barely. After years of iKervis and Cequa stinging so much I couldn't stay on them, Vevizye has been completely different. Because it's water-free, there's no pH or salt content to sting the eye, which is why it's so much gentler.
How long does Vevizye take to work?
It isn't instant, but it's meant to be quicker than older ciclosporin. When I read the leaflet that came with mine, it said symptoms should start to improve at around four weeks, whereas a drop like iKervis can take up to six months. That lines up with its trials, where a significant improvement in the eye surface was measured by around day 29. You still need to use it consistently. I'm only a couple of weeks in, so I can't confirm it from my own experience yet, but I'll update this once I'm further along.
Can you get Vevizye on the NHS?
It can be, but it's newer and more restricted than iKervis. It's available on the NHS for severe cases (severe keratitis in dry eye that hasn't improved with tear substitutes) and has to be started by a consultant eye specialist. Because it's still being assessed by NICE, availability varies by area right now. I paid privately to trial it, and I'm hoping my specialist can write to my GP to get it funded, the same route that worked for my iKervis.
How much does Vevizye cost in the UK?
I paid £92 for one bottle privately, which lasts about a month, roughly what iKervis cost me on a private prescription. If it suits me, my specialist plans to write to my GP to try to get it onto an NHS prescription. It's always worth asking your specialist about that route.
Vevizye vs iKervis, which is better?
They contain the same active drug, so the real difference is how it feels. iKervis stung so badly I kept giving up. Vevizye barely stings and comes in an easy dropper bottle instead of single-use vials. On comfort and convenience, Vevizye wins for me. Whether it works better for my eyes, I can't say yet.
More of my journey: My iKervis experience → · How I got diagnosed → · My punctal plugs →