NICE recommends ranibizumab for treating wet AMD in the United Kingdom

BASEL, Switzerland — The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has recommended ranibizumab as a cost-effective therapy for all eligible patients with wet age-related macular degeneration, according to a press release from Novartis, the drug's co-developer.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which determines public access to cost-effective medicines in the United Kingdom, based its guidance on data from clinical trials that enrolled more than 7,000 patients with AMD. In these studies, Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech) helped patients to read an average of four additional lines, or 21 additional letters, on an eye chart compared with participants who received no treatment. The benefit of the drug was sustained for 2 years, according to the release.

In addition to evaluating the efficacy of ranibizumab, the NICE review examined all medications approved in the United Kingdom for treating wet AMD and considered testimony from health professionals, economic health experts and patient groups.

The final NICE guidance includes a reimbursement plan under which the U.K. National Health Service will subsidize the first 14 injections in each eye affected by the disease and Novartis will reimburse costs for any additional ranibizumab injections.

Lucentis has been approved in more than 70 countries and has received positive health economic assessments in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Scotland, South Korea and Sweden, according to the release.

Novartis owns exclusive commercialization rights for ranibizumab outside the United States.