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Government Approves Macular Degeneration Treatment

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Jun 30, 2006 6:25 pm US/Eastern

Government Approves Macular Degeneration Treatment

(CBS)

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Last year, Harry Hallas was diagnosed with Macular Degeneration.

It develops when blood vessels in the back of the eye start leaking, causing a blurring in the center of vision.

Friday, the FDA approved Lucentis, a drug that's injected into the eye and stops the blood vessels from leaking.

"It was able to stabilize 95 percent of our patients that were in the study over a two year span," said Dr. David Tom with New England Retina.

In many patients, including Harry, vision actually improved.

"Everything is coming to normal yes I'm thankful for that," said Harry.

Lucentis is similar to the cancer drug Avastin, both made by Genentech.

For months eye doctors, like Robert Cykiert, have been using Avastin off-label on their patients, claiming impressive results.

While Avastin costs around $100 a dose, FDA-approved drug, Lucentis is expected to cost thousands.

Doctor Cykiert says he'll stick with Avastin.

"If it works the same, why use something that costs five, six, seven times more expensive," said Dr. Cykiert.

Genentech says the price of Lucentis has not been set and millions of dollars were spent developing the drug.

Even so Lucentis is expected to become very popular because it has undergone rigorous testing.

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