Getting your player ready...
WASHINGTON — What does a company do when there’s anecdotal evidence that two of its drugs are equally effective in treating a leading cause of blindness in the elderly, one costing patients $60 per treatment and the other $2,000? In the case of Genentech, nothing. The company declined to seek approval for the cheaper drug, Avastin, to treat the wet form of age-related macular degeneration. Nor would it help finance or cooperate with a National Eye Institute study comparing effectiveness and safety of Avastin and the pricier drug, Lucentis.
“No matter the outcome, we continue to believe Lucentis is the most appropriate treatment for wet AMD,” said a company spokeswoman.
