Comment on Cheaper Genentech drug seen as effective against eye disease

Genentech’s Avastin cancer drug appears to treat age-related macular degeneration as safely as Genentech’s drug Lucentis, which is approved for that condition and costs significantly more, a new analysis says. The findings, published Monday, are the latest to suggest that Avastin can be used off-label and safely for age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of legal blindness in elderly populations of industrialized countries. In this case, the researchers judged safety on whether the medicines resulted in deaths or serious side effects that result in death, are life-threatening, require hospital admission or prolong hospital stay, or cause disability. In a controversial move this summer, Italy decided to reimburse patients who are given Avastin for age-related macular degeneration — a move that could encourage more doctors to prescribe it off-label.