NHS Patients To Get Sight-Saving Drug

Patients in England suffering from a crippling medical condition, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are now to get access to a potentailly sight-saving drug.

New guidance, which applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland, now recommends Lucentis (also called ranibizumab) for treating wet AMD. It is already available in Scotland.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) had initially said that patients should wait until they went blind in one eye – which caused an outcry.

The reaction prompted a U-turn by the NHS advisory body in December.

The announcement comes after a unique agreement between NICE and the drug's manufacturer Novartis.

Under the deal, the NHS will only fund 14 injections, at a cost of £761 per injection and Novartis will meet any more in a scheme dubbed "dose capping".

A two-year course of treatment will costs trusts between £10,700 and £18,300.

However, some primary care trusts (PCTs), which decide on funding on a local level in the NHS, have been paying for treatment ahead of the final NICE approval which prompted accusations of a postcode lottery against the NHS.

To add to the controversy, legal action was taken against PCTs which were not paying for it.

Andrew Dillon, Chief Executive of NICE said: "Lucentis is an expensive drug, costing more than £10,000 for each eye treated. But that cost needs to be balanced against the likely cost savings.

"I am genuinely sorry that it has taken us so long to get to this point. Lessons could be learned by everybody involved."

Steve Winyard, Head of Campaigns at the Royal National Institute for the Blind said "we've been waiting for this for over two years" and "it is a victory for thousands, bringing overwhelming relief to desperate people across the country".

"NICE's guidance will finally bring an end to a cruel postcode lottery. There is now nowhere left for PCTs to hide – we want the them to implement NICE guidance immediately.

"RNIB is also calling on hospitals to ensure they build capacity as a matter of urgency, so they can save the sight of patients without further delay."

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) comes in two forms – wet and dry.

While the dry is more common, the wet type is more aggressive and is responsible for about 90% of blindness caused by the condition.

Up to 20,000 people are diagnosed with wet AMD in England.

While Lucentis will be available to patients on the NHS, NICE has not recommended another anti VEGF drug Macugen.

RNIB hopes that this drug will also be made available for patients in exceptional circumstances who for medical reasons won't be able to use Lucentis.

(DS)