_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: E-mail: evlow@moh.gov.my; Advances in Research 3(3): 334-340, 2015, Article no.AIR.2015.028 ISSN: 2348-0394 SCIENCEDOMAIN international www.sciencedomain.org The Controversies Surrounding Bevacizumab and Ranibizumab Ee Vien Low 1* and Faridah Aryani Md. Yusof 1 1 Pharmaceutical Services Division, Ministry of Health, Malaysia. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration between both authors. Author EVL wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Author FAMY prepared the conceptual framework of the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript. Article Information DOI: 10.9734/AIR/2015/13322 Editor(s): (1) Valdir de Andrade Braga, Faculty of Physiology Biotechnology Center, Federal University of Paraíba, Joao Pessoa, PB, Brazil. (2) Ayman Ahmed Alkawas, Professor of Ophthalmology Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt. Reviewers: (1) F. J. Sepúlveda-Cañamar, Dept. of Ophthalmology, Ambulatory Medical Unit, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, México. (2) Anonymous, University Hospital of Lyon, France. Complete Peer review History: http://www.sciencedomain.org/review-history.php?iid=755&id=31&aid=6676 Received 12 th August 2014 Accepted 9 th October 2014 Published 24 th October 2014 ABSTRACT Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of visual impairment and blindness. Both bevacizumab and ranibizumab are anti-vascular endothelial growth factors used for treatment of AMD. However the use of bevacizumab remains controversial as it was not approved for intravitreal use although there were several head-to-head comparison trial that shows that it was non inferior to ranibizumab. Despite the status of off-label, intravitreal bevacizumab is being used worldwide as it is 30-50 times cheaper than intravitreal ranibizumab. The case of intravitreal bevacizumab illustrates the use of “not-me” drug and different countries responds differently to its use. Keywords: Age-related macular degeneration; bevacizumab; ranibizumab; anti-vascular endothelial growth factor. 1. INTRODUCTION Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects those 50 years and older and causes 1% of visual impairment and 5% of blindness globally [1]. Both bevacizumab (brand name Avastin®) and ranibizumab (brand name Lucentis®) are being use for AMD by ophthalmologists worldwide. However, the intravitreal use of bevacizumab for AMD remains controversial as Opinion Article