Novartis’s pricey eye drug Lucentis has been rejected as a treatment for diabetic macular oedema by Britain’s health cost-effectiveness watchdog NICE, adding to controversy about the medicine, which is injected into the eye. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said on Friday that while Lucentis did treat the condition, which can cause sight loss in people with diabetes, it was less cost-effective than standard laser therapy. NICE already recommends Lucentis for wet age-related macular degeneration -- but its use in this condition has sparked debate because low doses of Roche’s Avastin work in a similar way and cost a fraction of the price.
