April 29th, 2011

The New York Times reports:

“A drug that costs about $50 a dose is just as effective at preserving and improving vision in elderly people with an age-related eye disease as one that costs $2,000 a dose, according to the results of a government-sponsored clinical trial released Thursday.

The trial compared the effectiveness of Lucentis, a drug approved to treat one form of macular degeneration, with Avastin, a cancer drug that many eye doctors have been using off-label instead of Lucentis because of its far lower cost. The drugs, both made by Genentech, work in a similar manner.

The findings could possibly save Medicare hundreds of millions of dollars a year — and cost Genentech an equivalent amount in lost sales — if more doctors begin using Avastin instead of Lucentis.”

Read more from the New York Times