Medicare Could Save $500 Million By Switching Drugs For AMD Treatment

Wall Street Journal reports that Medicare could achieve an annual savings of at least $500 million by switching from Lucentis (ranibizumab) to Avastin (bevacizumab) for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

After examining data on some 200,000 patients on Medicare, researchers found that expenditures for Avastin averaged about $42 per dose per eye, compared to $1,593 for a dose of Lucentis.

These study results have not yet been submitted to a medical journal for peer review, a fact that troubles Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), who chairs the Senate Committee on Aging. Kohl stated, "It is baffling that CMS would delay the release of this data when there are hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars at stake.

Posted in: Bevacizumab, Lucentis, Macular Degeneration, Ranibizumab