1. The Controversies Surrounding Bevacizumab and Ranibizumab
- Author
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Ee Vien Low and Faridah Aryani
- Subjects
Endothelial Growth Factors ,medicine.medical_specialty ,genetic structures ,Bevacizumab ,Blindness ,business.industry ,Intravitreal use ,Macular degeneration ,medicine.disease ,eye diseases ,Ophthalmology ,Genetics ,medicine ,Animal Science and Zoology ,sense organs ,Intravitreal bevacizumab ,Ranibizumab ,Intravitreal ranibizumab ,business ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of visual impairment and blindness. Both bevacizumab and ranibizumab are anti-vascular endothelial growth factors used for treatment of AMD. However the use of bevacizumab remains controversial as it was not approved for intravitreal use although there were several head-to-head comparison trial that shows that it was non inferior to ranibizumab. Despite the status of off-label, intravitreal bevacizumab is being used worldwide as it is 30-50 times cheaper than intravitreal ranibizumab. The case of intravitreal bevacizumab illustrates the use of “not-me” drug and different countries responds differently to its use. more...
- Published
- 2015
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