News

All sufferers of wet AMD will soon have access to the drug Lucentis on the NHS.

The drug which costs approximately £1,500 per injection had previously only been available though a limited number of PCTs, with some trusts only treating patients if they had already gone blind in one eye first.

Under the proposals in the Final Appraisal Document (FAD) on anti-VGEF drugs published on April 2, PCTs in England and local health boards in Wales will have to fund Lucentis for patients with wet AMD, whether their first or second eye is affected. The FAD marks the second stage of the approval process before the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence issues final guidance, expected in June.

The RNIB has led a two-year battle to make Lucentis available on the NHS. The charity's head of campaigns Steve Winyard said: 'Today we move a step closer to achieving justice for the 19,000 patients in England and Wales who develop wet AMD each year.'

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