Bluebird endorses plan for installment-based payments for costly gene therapy
Payment-by-installment to tackle the skyrocketing costs of drugs has long been deliberated in health policy circles, but is now gaining traction on the manufacturer side in the field of gene therapy, as backlash to $1 million-plus prices of these one-shot treatments whose long-term durability has not been established forces drugmakers to seek creative solutions to ensure reimbursement.
Bluebird bio $BLUE CEO Nick Leschly floated such a model in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday at the JP Morgan Healthcare conference, in relation to its gene-replacement therapy LentiGlobin for beta thalassemia — a rare, inherited blood disorder — which is expected to win EU approval this year, and US approval in 2020. Patients with the disorder usually require lifelong treatment with blood transfusions and medication.
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