Facing a payer backlash over sticker shock, Biogen fields positive data on Spinraza for children 2-12
Fighting an uphill battle to get payers to cover its $750,000 first-year price tag on Spinraza (nusinersen), Biogen is posting another round of stellar data to back its use among older children with rare cases of spinal muscular atrophy.
Researchers tested the drug in 126 SMA patients who were between the ages of 2 and 12 and generally suffered from Type 2 or Type 3 forms of the neuromuscular disease. As we’ve already seen with infants under 6 months suffering early-onset disease, there was a clear response, with a 3.9 point improvement at month 15 in the Hammersmith Functional Motor Scale Expanded (HFMSE) score, compared to a 1.0 point drop in patients in the placebo arm.
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