Results from an AMD trial

Posted by: Pepose Vision Institute in Retina on August 4, 2013

CATT Trial Injections for Treatment of Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration or AMD
Reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Holekamp, our Director of Retina Services, reported that the results of the head-to-head trial comparing Avastin injections to Lucentis injections for treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration or AMD were reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study was a large, randomized, prospective clinical trial. In other words, it met the gold standard for research. The study found that Avastin and Lucentis were essentially equivalent. This is big news because the cost of Avastin is about $50 and the cost of Lucentis is about $2,000. We are all concerned with cutting healthcare costs. The study also found that monthly monitoring and receiving injections only as needed was essentially equivalent to receiving routine monthly injections. However, it is important that patients with wet AMD keep to a monthly schedule of visits with their retina specialist for the best results.