Bill Organ’s sight was saved by injections of the drugs Avastin and Lucentis. Without them, the retired submarine captain would have lost his central vision — including his ability to recognise faces, drive, watch TV, or read books. Both drugs stop the loss of central vision caused by age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness. ‘The wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in my right eye was picked up shortly after I noticed problems with my sight. I had started seeing straight lines as wavy ones, said Bill Organ, aged 71 The condition, which affects 500,000 people in the UK, comes in two forms: the ‘dry’ form, which progresses slowly, and for which there is no treatment, and the ‘wet’ form, which affects one in ten AMD sufferers.
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Bill Organ’s sight saved by injections of the drugs Avastin and Lucentis
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Age-related macular degeneration affects 500,000 people in the UK
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Avastin is not widely available to patients
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It is nearly eight times cheaper than Lucentis
Lucentis
Lucentis
Lucentis
The authority said that the two companies ‘colluded to exclude the cheap drug Avastin to channel demand towards the most expensive drug, @placeholder’.