Far Less Costly than Lucentis, Avastin Saves Sight
Far Less Costly than Lucentis, Avastin Saves Sight
June 11, 2010 -- Avastin improves vision for people with the wet form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a U.K. study suggests.
That's no surprise to the 60% of U.S. doctors who already use tiny doses of the cancer drug instead of the vastly more expensive Lucentis.
What remains frustrating is that until a U.S.-funded study is finished next year, nobody knows for sure whether Avastin works as well as or better than Lucentis for AMD -- or which patients, if any, would benefit more from one drug than from the other.
Both Lucentis and Avastin inhibit a molecule called vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF. Avastin is a humanized monoclonal antibody. Lucentis is largely the same antibody pruned down to its active fragment and enhanced for greater anti-VEGF potency.
When injected into the eye with a tiny needle, both drugs stop the inappropriate growth of blood vessels that leak fluid and displace the retina. Both drugs are made by Genentech, now owned by Roche. But the similarity ends there.
Avastin is not an FDA approved treatment for AMD. Genentech is not seeking such approval and does not make the drug in the tiny dosages needed for AMD treatment.
A compounding pharmacy, however, can break down a vial of Avastin into AMD dosages for about $20 a dose. The cost of a dose of Lucentis is about $2,000. This 100-fold cost difference is why so many ophthalmologists are using Avastin for AMD, even though it is not an approved use of the drug.
Now Adnan Tufail, MD, of Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, and colleagues have demonstrated in a clinical trial that Avastin does indeed improve vision in patients with AMD. This supports the use of Avastin -- but does not answer the question of whether it is the best treatment.
In an editorial accompanying the Tufail study, Usha Chakravarthy, MD, PhD, of Ireland's Royal Victoria Hospital, notes that the findings will reassure doctors who treat AMD patients with Avastin.
However, she concludes that "off-label use of [Avastin for AMD] should not be encouraged until the large randomized trials comparing it with [Lucentis] report their findings."
That's no surprise to the 60% of U.S. doctors who already use tiny doses of the cancer drug instead of the vastly more expensive Lucentis.
What remains frustrating is that until a U.S.-funded study is finished next year, nobody knows for sure whether Avastin works as well as or better than Lucentis for AMD -- or which patients, if any, would benefit more from one drug than from the other.
Both Lucentis and Avastin inhibit a molecule called vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF. Avastin is a humanized monoclonal antibody. Lucentis is largely the same antibody pruned down to its active fragment and enhanced for greater anti-VEGF potency.
When injected into the eye with a tiny needle, both drugs stop the inappropriate growth of blood vessels that leak fluid and displace the retina. Both drugs are made by Genentech, now owned by Roche. But the similarity ends there.
Avastin is not an FDA approved treatment for AMD. Genentech is not seeking such approval and does not make the drug in the tiny dosages needed for AMD treatment.
A compounding pharmacy, however, can break down a vial of Avastin into AMD dosages for about $20 a dose. The cost of a dose of Lucentis is about $2,000. This 100-fold cost difference is why so many ophthalmologists are using Avastin for AMD, even though it is not an approved use of the drug.
Now Adnan Tufail, MD, of Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, and colleagues have demonstrated in a clinical trial that Avastin does indeed improve vision in patients with AMD. This supports the use of Avastin -- but does not answer the question of whether it is the best treatment.
In an editorial accompanying the Tufail study, Usha Chakravarthy, MD, PhD, of Ireland's Royal Victoria Hospital, notes that the findings will reassure doctors who treat AMD patients with Avastin.
However, she concludes that "off-label use of [Avastin for AMD] should not be encouraged until the large randomized trials comparing it with [Lucentis] report their findings."
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