British experts green light Novartis' sight-saving drug

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

GENEVA (AFP) — Novartis said Wednesday its Lucentis eye treatment has been recommended by Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) as a cost-effective therapy to stave off blindness.

The Swiss pharmaceutical giant said in a statement that NICE had recommended Lucentis as "a cost-effective therapy for all eligible patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD)," an eye disease that is the leading cause of blindness in people aged over 50.

NICE determines access to medicines for National Health Service (NHS) patients in England and Wales on the basis of cost-effectiveness.

In its guidance, NICE proposed that the first 14 injections of Lucentis in each affected eye will be funded by the NHS -- Britain's 60-year-old...