Summary
It does not require a lot of ophthalmic and business savy to understand why a company rather promote a drug that costs more than 20 times more to treat the same medical condition.
Analysis
While Lucentis has received FDA approval for the specific use to treat wet macular degeneration, multiple studies (to likely support anecdotal evidence from physicians around the world) are trying to finally prove if there are significant differences in safety and effect between Lucentis and its significantly cheaper analog Avastin. Given the limits on health care dollars that will likely occur in the next decade, there will be great effort to prove the cheaper drug as effective and safe as the currently FDA approved Lucentis. Governments in Europe have already approved and encouraged the use of Avastin over Lucentis for the treatment of wet macular degeneration and it could occur also here in the USA. The studies are not completed yet.
This author consults with leading institutions through GLG
Analyses are solely the work of the authors and have not been edited or endorsed by GLG.
