NICE Approves Lucentis for Treatment of Myopic CNV

Medical News Today reports that "in a Final Appraisal Determination (FAD) published October 25, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended that Lucentis (ranibizumab) be approved for use within the NHS in England and Wales as an option to treat people with visual impairment due to choroidal neovascularisation associated with pathological myopia (myopic CNV)6. Myopic CNV is the growth of abnormal leaky blood vessels in the back of the eye in high myopia (severe near sightedness)." Read more.

UK's NICE Reject Lucentis

"Novartis AG's (NVS) eye care drug Lucentis has been rejected by Britain's health costs watchdog because of the medicine's high cost and doubts about its effectiveness in treating macular oedema," according to a Wall Street Journal post. "Macular oedema occurs when fluid collects in the retina, causing damage to vision. The U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, or NICE, Thursday said its independent appraisal committee was unable to recommend the injectable therapy "because of gaps and uncertainties in the evidence on the effectiveness of Lucentis compared with other treatments" and because of the drug's cost." Read more.