Lessons Learned From Avastin and OCT

In this interview from AAO 2018, Dr. Philip Rosenfeld reviews his Jackson Memorial Lecture on lessons learned from Avastin and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Avastin’s eventual adoption by ophthalmologists would not have been possible without the advent of time-domain OCT. This technology, introduced to the market in 2001, made it possible for researchers to document patients’ response to treatment. Findings from a series of clinical trials suggest that Avastin is a safe and effective treatment for AMD. In a recent study, Dr. Rosenfeld and colleagues found that the use of Avastin from 2008 to 2015 saved Medicare $17.3 billion dollars. Medicare Advantage plans were not factored into this analysis; if they had been, the overall savings would have risen to $24.7 billion dollars.

Relevant Financial Disclosures: Dr. Rosenfeld is a consultant for and receives grant support from Carl Zeiss Meditec and Genentech