Health ministers may call for appraisal of unlicensed cancer drug for eye care
Health ministers in England may call for a full technology appraisal of a cancer drug to treat eye conditions, even though it is not licensed for the condition. Avastin has been widely used in the UK and the US to treat age-related macular degeneration, despite lack of license, because it is much cheaper than the licensed alternative, Lucentis. Both were developed by Genetech and Lucentis is approved for NHS used by NICE. Avastin is about 15 times cheaper than Lucentis. However, Roche has no desire to apply for a licence for Avastin as it would be undercutting its own licensed alternative.Although it is not unprecedented for NICE to review unlicensed medicines, the MHRA generally discourages the use of unlicensed products when a licensed alternative exists.BMJ 2011; 342: d62