CCG plans Avastin treatment choice for AMD patients

A clinical commissioning group (CCG) has set out to save cash by treating AMD patients with bevacizumab, which it said is cheaper and as effective.

Dr David Hambleton, chief officer of the South Tyneside CCG, has told the British Medical Journal that commissioners in the area have agreed to use a cheaper AMD treatment, despite potential legal disputes with the manufacturers involved.

He said 12 clinical commissioning groups in the region had agreed to offer the thousands of wet AMD patients the choice of bevacizumab (Avastin) as a preferred treatment. The drug is used to treat cancer but not licensed for macular degeneration in this country.