Cheaper alternative to licensed drug for treating eye disease has similar side-effects, says new Cochrane Review

Health policies which favor using ranibizumab for treating eye disease in older people over safety concerns for a cheaper alternative should take account of a new Cochrane Review published today.

The review looked at ranibizumab, which is marketed by Swiss drug majors Novartis (NOVN: VX) and Roche (ROG: SIX) under the trade name Lucentis. Roche has US marketing rights. The researchers looked at the results of studies which compared the safety of two drugs used for treating age-related macular degeneration, ranibizumab and bevacizumab (Roche’s blockbuster cancer drug Avastin). Contrary to what was argued by some experts, the review has found that the cheaper drug, bevacizumab, does not appear to increase deaths or serious side-effects compared with ranibizumab in people with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

According to a recent report in Health Affairs, using Avastin rather than Lucentis, could save the USA’s Medicare and patients around $29 billion over 10 years.