VA Reinstates Bevacizumab As Off-Label Treatment For AMD.

Medscape  (11/9, Waknine) reports, "The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced the reinstatement of bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech unit of Roche AG) as an option for the off-label treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD)." Going forward, "the VA will now allow one patient dose per manufacturer's vial of bevacizumab, with the caveat that patients be carefully screened before receiving treatment and be fully informed of the health risks associated with off-label therapy." Medscape points out that even though "ranibizumab (Lucentis) is specifically approved to treat AMD, bevacizumab has a similar method of action and has been employed by the VA to cut costs (at $50 vs. $2,000 per dose), despite concerns regarding the compounding of intravitreal injections from an intravenous product."