BioCentury
ARTICLE | Clinical News

Lucentis ranibizumab regulatory update

February 4, 2013 8:00 AM UTC

The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport said the country's Heath Care Insurance Board (CVZ) recommended the minister remove Lucentis ranibizumab for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) from the Netherlands' drug reimbursement list as of Jan. 1, 2015. A spokesperson for the minister told BioCentury that the CVZ recommended the delisting unless "compelling evidence" becomes available that shows therapeutic value of Lucentis in patients who do not react well to off-label use of Avastin bevacizumab. According to the spokesperson, the minister has not yet made a decision about the recommendation.

Lucentis, a humanized mAb fragment against VEGF-A, is approved in the EU and Canada to treat wet AMD, visual impairment due to macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and diabetic macular edema (DME). Avastin, a humanized mAb against VEGF, is approved for certain cancers and is used off label as a cheaper alternative to treat wet AMD and DME. ...