While Genentech Inc.’s stocks continue to swell on the success of their colon cancer drug, Avastin, the biotech giants aren’t too busy to show the world that their vermin aren’t all relegated to the labs. Aside from its intended use, Avastin is an effective way to prevent blindness caused by age-related macular degeneration. Genentech is trying to prevent doctors from using Avastin in the treatment of AMD so that they can market Lucentis, which is the same drug tweaked, Genentech says, for use in eyes.

However, where a single dose of Avastin can be divided into several treatments costing about $20 per, Lucentis is expected to carry a per-treatment fee closer to $2000.

An American ophthalmologist, Philip Rosenfeld, was the first to use Avastin on human eyes after hearing about its results during animal testing. Since then, its use in AMD treatment has spread worldwide. Medicine generally cannot be licensed for a specific treatment until its manufacturer puts it through controlled trials. By not subjecting Avastin to testing for the treatment of AMD, they are effectively barring its use by ophthalmologists.

» Scott Saxon