A pioneering clinical trial launched this year by a US-backed research institute may fundamentally reshape relations between payers and the pharmaceutical industry, IMS Health, the healthcare consultancy, warned on Tuesday.

The National Eye Institute-sponsored $16m ”head to head” trial will compare the effectiveness of two drugs produced by Genentech, the biotech company controlled by Roche of Switzerland, and could lead to a much cheaper way to treat Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), which causes blindness.