Lucentis, Avastin found equally useful at treating AMD
First costs 40x as much as the other
By Ronny Linder-Ganz
A new study may dispel some of the fog surrounding a question doctors are asking: Which drug is most effective against age-related macular degeneration - Lucentis, an expensive drug made by Novartis, or Avastin, a cheaper drug made by Roche? Researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine report finding little difference in the efficacy of the two drugs. Yet they are very different in price.
Both drugs originated with Genentech, but wound up split between two companies: Lucentis went to Novartis and Avastin went to Roche. Both also work similarly. In fact, Lucentis is a smaller molecule derived from Avastin.
But while Avastin, which is generally used to treat cancer, costs $30 to $40 per injection, Lucentis can cost as much as $2,000 per shot. Each course of therapy involves a number of injections.
Genentech had come under much criticism for developing both drugs, yet never testing Avastin as a therapy for AMD, which is a leading cause of blindness in the West. But even though the drug never went through the formal permit stages for use against AMD, doctors, including in Israel, have come to use Avastin to treat the degenerative eye condition, relying on special permission from local health authorities.
The Boston study tested 22 patients, of whom 15 received Avastin and seven received Lucentis. After a year, almost no differences were found between the two trial groups: Almost all the patients saw their vision improve by a row and a half on the vision testing chart. One, in the Lucentis group, suffered deteriorated vision.
The only significant difference between the two groups was that the patients taking Lucentis needed only four shots, while the patients receiving Avastin needed eight shots.
Novartis said it cannot comment on the trial because it involved only 22 patients. But of the two drugs, the company said, only Lucentis has been studied, approved and prescribed to treat AMD. It is also the only drug registered in Israel to treat the disease and has proven to be efficacious in 90% of patients, Novartis added.
As a result, the only safety data on record is in respect to Lucentis, while the safety of Avastin remains unknown, as do its side effects, the company said.
haaretz.com |
