Infection from Avastin Injection Overstated, Says Study

"Eye injections of the drug Avastin, used to treat retinal diseases, bring no greater risk of endophthalmitis, a potentially blinding eye infection, than injections with the much more expensive drug Lucentis made by the same company, according to new research." That's the word from a Science Digest post. Read more.

The Rise of the Expensive Lucentis

"When the drug maker Genentech introduced a major product in 2006, it found itself in an awkward position: persuading eye doctors to start using its new more expensive drug instead of a popular cheaper version that the company already sold," according to a New York Times post. "Ophthalmologists had been enthusiastically using the company’s cancer drug Avastin, which cost about $50 a dose, to treat a common eye disease in the elderly, wet macular degeneration. Then Genentech introduced Lucentis, a nearly equivalent drug that cost $2,000 a dose and was approved specifically to treat the disease.Use of Lucentis took off..." Read more.

New Drug Treatment for AMD

Medical News Today says that “a team of ophthalmologists at the University of Iowa has shown that a third drug, Eylea, can ease leaking and vision problems for wet AMD patients. In a study involving 31 AMD patients at the UI Hospitals and Clinics, researchers report that half of the eyes treated with Eylea had reduced fluid after three monthly injections. Moreover, in some cases subsequent bimonthly injections with Eylea were deemed as effective as monthly injections of Avastin and Lucentis over a similar time period, meaning fewer visits by patients and less cost.” Read more.

AMD Genes Don't Predict Response to Lucentis or Avastin

“New findings from a landmark clinical trial show that although certain gene variants may predict whether a person is likely to develop age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a potentially blinding eye disease that afflicts more than nine million Americans, these genes do not predict how patients will respond to Lucentis and Avastin, the two medications most widely used to treat the 'wet' form of AMD,” says Science Daily. “This new data from the Comparison of AMD Treatment Trials (CATT), published online in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, found no significant association between four gene variants and outcomes that measured the patients' responses to treatment.” Read more.

The Consequences of the Avastin/Lucentis Debate

"For both drugs, vision was slightly better with monthly injections, rather than with less frequent or "as-needed" injections. However, study authors were also quick to note that since as-needed dosing requires fewer drug injections into the eye, some patients, following consultation with their eye doctor, may elect not to choose monthly injections, balancing relative risks and cost." Read more on Medical News Today.

NEI Weighs In on the Avastin-Lucentis Debate

At two years, Avastin (bevacizumab) and Lucentis (ranibizumab injection), two widely used drugs to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD), improve vision when administered monthly or on an as needed basis, although greater improvements in vision were seen with monthly administration for this common, debilitating eye disease, according to researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Avastin and Lucentis Yield Similar Improvements, Says Study

Two drugs commonly used to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD) yield similar improvements in vision for patients receiving treatments on a monthly or as-needed basis, according to a study from researchers at the Center for Preventive Ophthalmology and Biostatistics (CPOB) at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The year-two results of the Comparison of AMD Treatment Trials (CATT) support the findings from the first year of the study that evaluated the effects of Avastin (bevacizumab) - the off-label drug most frequently used to treat AMD - and Lucentis (ranibizumab), a drug approved by the FDA in 2006 for the treatment of AMD. Full long-term results of the CATT, a two-year clinical trial, are published in the current issue of Ophthalmology. Read more.

Avastin Vs. Lucentis--The Debate Continues After FDA Warning

"At least 16 people in two states have gotten severe eye infections, and some have been blinded, from injections of the drug Avastin, according to health authorities and to lawyers representing the patients," notes a post on NYTimes. "The cancer drug Avastin has been used by some doctors to treat macular degeneration, an off-label application.The incidents, in Florida and Tennessee, demonstrate the risks associated with the money-saving practice of injecting Avastin into the eye...But many retina specialists use Avastin off label because it costs only about $50 an injection, compared with $2,000 for Lucentis...The Food and Drug Administration issued an alert late TuesdayRead more. saying that at least 12 patients in Miami, treated at three clinics, had suffered eye inflammations."

Lucentis-Avastin Debate Still Rages

MedicalNewsToday weighs in on the Lucentis-Avastin debate: "Genentech (Hoffman - La Roche) manufactures two critically important pharmaceuticals, Lucentis and Avastin, which are both used for treatment of several common eye diseases - including age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Despite considerable clinical similarity, the price difference between these drugs is substantial, with Lucentis generally costing up to 100 times the equivalent treatment with Avastin. A National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinical trial titled, "Comparison of AMD Treatment Trials" (CATT), is currently under way to compare the safety and efficacy of the two drugs, and the results may have far-reaching economic implications for Genentech, patients, Medicare, and third party payors."