RNIB: U-turn on AMD a breakthrough

The decision to reverse a previous ruling and allow a potential sight-saving drug to be widely available has been hailed as a "very big breakthrough".

Welcoming the announcement by the NHS drugs watchdog to look again at the drug Lucentis, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) called it a "major U-turn".

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has decided to reconsider its guidance for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) following an estimated 13,000 responses to its previous decision.

Steve Winyard, head of public policy at RNIB, said people had been "outraged" by the original ruling not to make the drug available on the NHS.

"There was the largest response ever to a Nice draft guidance; RNIB, the Macular Disease Society, a whole range of organisations came together to express outrage and we're delighted that Nice has listened and has made a major U-turn," he told the Today programme.

He explained that Wet AMD was the "biggest cause of sight loss" in the UK, but that this drug was particularly effective.

"It works for 90 per cent of people and for around one in three people it actually improves their sight," he said.

"So it's a very big breakthrough and we were appalled when back in the summer Nice said four out of five people shouldn't get it at all and for the lucky one in five who would get treatment they'd have to go blind in one eye before they'd get treatment in the second eye."

Nice is considering draft guidance that recommends the NHS should pay for a maximum of 14 injections of Lucentis per eye

The RNIB is hopeful that following the end of this consultation process next month the drug will be made widely available by early next year.