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GEFAL results support CATT findings
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SEATTLE — Like the CATT trial, the French Evaluation Group Avastin Versus Lucentis found also that bevacizumab is non-inferior to ranibizumab, the GEFAL investigators reported here.
“We found that, for our primary outcome, which is visual acuity, bevacizumab is non-inferior to ranibizumab,” study author Laurent Kodjikian, MD, PhD, said in a press briefing at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting. The mean visual acuity difference between the two drugs was 1.89 letters, which is clinically meaningless, Kodjikian said.
Laurent Kodjikian
In the double-masked, randomized, interventional GEFAL trial, 255 patients received 1.25 mg Avastin (bevacizumab, Genentech) and 246 patients received 0.5 mg Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech). All patients received monthly injections for the first 3 months and were assessed for treatment thereafter. A mean of seven injections was necessary per patient within the year for both drugs.
Both drugs resulted in rapid and substantial decrease in thickness and fluid, although neither drug eliminated fluid in all eyes.
There were no differences between the two drugs regarding safety, but too few patients were enrolled for too short a period to make a comment on safety of the drugs, Kodjikian said. More systemic serious adverse events were reported with bevacizumab, but individual data regarding each event is needed before a conclusion can be drawn, he said.
Disclosure: Kodjikian is principal investigator for trials sponsored by, is on the advisory board for, or receives lecture fees from Alcon, Allergan, Bausch + Lomb, Bayer, Krys Group, Novartis, Thea and Zeiss.