Britain's cost-effectiveness watchdog NICE, in a change of tack, has agreed outline plans for an unusual dose-capping scheme for Novartis' costly eye drug Lucentis, it said on Friday. Under the draft proposal, the state-run National Health Service would pay for a maximum of 14 injections of Lucentis per eye, with Novartis agreeing to pay if any more are needed.
NICE said up to 14 shots should result in stable vision for most patients and improved vision for around a quarter of them.
Each injection of Lucentis costs £761.20 ($1,555).
2 comments:
Did NICE take a position in Avastin v. Lucentis? In the US, docs inject Avastin instead of Lucentis since it costs 1/40 the amount and is essentially the same product.
See, for example, the Health Business Blog's coverage of the story: http://www.healthbusinessblog.com/?p=1531
I think NICE is funding trials comparing Lucentis and Avastin, from memory - can't find the link off hand, but I'm pretty sure the Gruaniad reported that a month or two ago.
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