Battling competition from itself

摘要

Less than a month after a U.S. panel rejected the use of Roche's Avastin in breast cancer, the company is fighting two Democratic senators' efforts to expand its use as a low-cost option for an eye disease. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Sherrod Brown of Ohio are asking Medicare to declare Avastin necessary to fight macular degeneration. This "off label" application eats into sales of Roche's Lucentis, an approved drug for the condition that's 40 times more expensive.