Orchard secures reimbursement for gene therapy; UK fines drugmakers $47M for anticompetitive scheme
Orchard Therapeutics announced this week that the company has agreed to a reimbursement deal with England’s NHS for coverage of its gene therapy Libmeldy.
Although Orchard didn’t say how much NHS would pay for the therapy, the deal is notable because of the difficulties gene therapy developers have had coming to terms with payers, even when the therapies have been approved. In the most high-profile example, bluebird bio pulled all of its gene therapies out of Europe last year, saying countries were not offering a price commensurate with the value of its drugs for two rare blood disorders and a rare neurological condition.
Orchard’s therapy is a one-time treatment for metachromatic leukodystrophy, a progressive and ultimately fatal disorder in which a type of fat builds up in the brain, nervous system and other tissues. A Lancet publication last month showed that 26 out of 29 treated patients were still alive, had shown significant improvements in motor function compared to historical controls and “most displayed normal cognitive development.”
UK fines drugmakers over anti-competitive scheme
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority fined four companies a combined £35 million — $47 million — for a scheme allegedly designed to stifle competition in the market for a common anti-nausea drug.
The agency said Alliance Pharmaceuticals appointed a company called Focus to distribute the generic drug prochlorperazine in the country. Meanwhile, they also paid two other drug companies, Lexon and Medreich, a share of the profits in an exchange for an agreement that the two would not also launch prochlorperazine in the same period.
As a result, the CMA said, from 2013 to 2017, the price of prochlorperazine increased 700%. Between 2014 and 2018, it said, the amount the NHS spent on the drug rose from £2.7 million to around £7.5 million, even though the amount used in the UK fell.
“The size of the fines reflects the seriousness of this breach. These firms conspired to stifle competition in the supply of this important medication, so that the NHS – the main buyer of the drugs – lost the opportunity for increased choice and lower prices,” CMA chief Andrea Coscelli said. “While the arrangement was in place, the price increased significantly for a drug that people rely on to manage debilitating nausea, dizziness and migraines.”
