According to a recent report published by Roche's US arm Genentech, the use of the drug Avastin (Roche Institut) to treat vision problems can cause more side effects than taking Lucentis, a drug produced by the same lab.

The announcement came just after a publication funded by the US government National Eye Institute, which stated that both drugs were effective in the same way. The biggest difference between them was the price: Lucentis (known generically as ranibizumab) is much more expensive than its similar Avastin (bevacizumab). Both drugs are manufactured by Roche Institut.

As Avastin is much cheaper, its use was spread by doctors for the treatment against eye condition wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). To get a price nearer to $50, doctors have bought vials of Avastin and put it into the smaller doses required every month to treat AMD. At the same time, $1,500 was charged for Lucentis. According to the company study, however, patients using Avastin are 11% more likely to suffer from stroke than the ones using Lucentis.

As US healthcare reform is improving comparative effectiveness studies of competing medicines, the US National Eye Institute has created Catt - its own trial. Its preliminary findings support the use of Avastin for AMD, but the study has another one year to run.