Bevacizumab vs Ranibizumab for Age-related Macular Degeneration:

Early Results of a Prospective Double-Masked, Randomized Clinical Trial.

Early results of a head-to-head, randomized, double-masked, prospective, single-center controlled trial between bevacizumab and ranibizumab show no difference in efficacy between the two treatments for choroidal neovascularizaton in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. As this study conveys results of a small number of patients, further studies with larger sample sizes are needed in order to establish statistical significance.

There is apparently no difference in efficacy between bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech, South San Francisco, Calif.) and ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech) after 6 months in a small group of patients, according to investigators from Boston University School of Medicine and the VA Boston Healthcare System. This study marks the first to report early outcomes of a head-to-head comparison between the two anti-VEGF treatments, the university said in a news release. Patients were enrolled by a 2:1 randomization to either the bevacizumab (2) or ranibizumab (1) arm of the study. Once inclusion criteria were met, patients were given intravitreal injection of bevacizumab or ranibizumab every month for the first three months (at baseline, month 1, and month 2). Following the third injection, patients returned for monthly examination and testing and received further injections on an as needed basis for 1 year.

According to the university, a total of 20 patients were enrolled; at 6 months, visual outcomes between patients in the two groups “appear to be no different,” the study authors said. This study is not part of the The National Eye Institute’s Comparison of AMD Treatment Trials Study (CATT Study), a multi-centered, randomized, double-masked, clinical trial designed to assess the efficacy of bevacizumab compared to ranibizumab therapy and will be conducted in 44 clinical centers throughout the United States. Early results are expected in 2011. The study is published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, the university said.

Reference: Bevacizumab vs Ranibizumab for Age-related Macular Degeneration: Early Results of a Prospective Double-Masked, Randomized Clinical Trial. Subramanian ML, Ness S, Abedi G, Ahmed E, Daly M, Feinberg E, Bhatia S, Patel P, Nguyen M, Houranieh A. Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts; Department of Ophthalmology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts. Am J Ophthalmol. 2009 Oct 2. PMID: 19800611