Thursday, June 14, 2007

Novartis - Lucentis: NICE sees eye to eye


Britain's health watchdog NICE recommended the use of Novartis's Lucentis for a fifth of patients with a leading cause of blindness on Thursday, but guided doctors away from prescribing rival drug Macugen.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), Britain's medicines cost-effectiveness body, recommended the use of Lucentis for treating 20 percent of patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.

NICE added that the drug should only be used once patients had already lost the sight in one eye and also said it did not recommend the use of rival drug Macugen made by OSI Pharmaceuticals.

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