Avastin-Lucentis trial may reshape pharma

We thought the head-to-head trial of Avastin and Lucentis for age-related macular degeneration was a big deal for Genentech, which makes both drugs. Now, IMS Health is saying that the trial could be "a Pandora's box" for the entire pharma industry.

Conducted by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, the trial is designed to see whether the much cheaper Avastin, often used off-label to treat AMD, measures up to the AMD-specific--and very expensive--Lucentis. If Avastin passes muster, then prescribers may desert Lucentis completely. And if docs don't do so voluntarily, then insurers and other payers may nudge, cajole, incentivize, or downright push them to.

And there's the rub, IMS says. By taking the drugmaker out of the testing, this trial could fundamentally reshape relations between payers and pharma. Payers could sponsor comparative drug studies of their own or lobby the government to do so, IMS theorizes, especially as databases make those comparisons easier. There's plenty of time to worry about it, though: The Avastin-Lucentis trial won't wrap till 2010.

- see the story in the Financial Times

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