EU court waves through Italy's off-label Avastin use

23 November 2018

The European Court of Justice will not stand in the way of Roche’s (ROG: SIX) cancer drug Avastin (bevacizumab) being prescribed for an unlicensed indication.

Avastin’s marketing authorization does not cover age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), but, in 2014, Italy’s medicines agency placed the drug on the list of medicinal products for the country’s National Health Service for the treatment of the eye disease, subject to certain conditions being satisfied including the patient being made aware that other therapies are available.

Among those alternatives is Novartis’ (NOVN: VX) Lucentis (ranibizumab), which has been authorized to treat ARMD. It is also reimbursed by Italy’s National Health Service but is much more expensive than Avastin.

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