Despite anecdotal evidence that Genentech’s $60-per-treatment drug Avastin is as effective in treating a leading cause of blindness as their $2,000-per-treatment drug Lucentis, Genentech has declined to seek federal approval to the cheaper drug to treat wet macular degeneration.
Genentech also said that it would not help finance -- or cooperate with -- a National Eye Institute study comparing the effectiveness and safety of the two drugs.
Medicare officials estimate there could be 50,000 or more new cases of macular degeneration a year. Treating just one year's worth of new patients with Lucentis would cost $1.2 billion a year, compared with $60 million if they're treated with Avastin.