BASEL, Switzerland – Novartis AG said Wednesday that its blindness drug Lucentis has won funding approval in England and Wales, making it freely available to tens of thousands of patients.

Britain's state-run health service had previously resisted paying for the drug because of the high cost of treatment, calculated at 10,660 pounds ($19,660) for a regular course of 14 injections.

Novartis said it will reimburse Britain's National Health Service for any further doses patients might require.

Patients in Scotland already receive the drug free.

Lucentis, or ranibizumab, helps patients with wet age-related macular degeneration to maintain or improve their vision.

It is about 100 times more expensive than another drug, Avastin, which can also be used to treat macular degeneration but has not been widely approved by health regulators.

Both Avastin and Lucentis were developed by California-based biotech company Genentech Inc.

Novartis secured the exclusive marketing rights for Lucentis outside the United States, while rival drug-maker Roche Holding AG has the international rights to Avastin.

Avastin, or bevacizumab, is marketed as a cancer drug but has become a so-called “off-label” treatment for macular degeneration because of its low cost.

Novartis shares rose less than 1 percent to 60.55 Swiss francs ($66.70) on the Zurich exchange.