The Controversies Surrounding Bevacizumab and Ranibizumab
Ee Vien Low *
Pharmaceutical Services Division, Ministry of Health, Malaysia
Faridah Aryani Md. Yusof
Pharmaceutical Services Division, Ministry of Health, Malaysia
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of visual impairment and blindness. Both bevacizumab and ranibizumab are anti-vascular endothelial growth factors used for treatment of AMD. However the use of bevacizumab remains controversial as it was not approved for intravitreal use although there were several head-to-head comparison trial that shows that it was non inferior to ranibizumab. Despite the status of off-label, intravitreal bevacizumab is being used worldwide as it is 30-50 times cheaper than intravitreal ranibizumab. The case of intravitreal bevacizumab illustrates the use of “not-me” drug and different countries responds differently to its use.
Keywords: Age-related macular degeneration, bevacizumab, ranibizumab, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor