CAR T Cells: Exciting, but Who Is Going to Cover Costs?

[Cllcanada]

CAR T-cell therapies have generated tremendous excitement in the oncologic community, as they have elicited responses and complete remissions in patients who have come to the end of approved treatment options.

"The excitement is palpable.... This is all we are talking about," commented Samuel Silver, MD, PhD, MACP, professor of internal medicine and assistant dean for research at the University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor.

But who is going to cover the huge costs of these novel therapies, he wondered aloud at a special session that focused on reimbursement issues for these new therapies during the recent American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2017 Annual Meeting.

Dr Silver is chair of the ASH subcommittee on reimbursement, a position he has held for years, but he has never received as many telephone calls as in the past few months, since CAR T cells were approved.

Medscape

medscape.com/viewarticle/89...

[Kwenda]

The costs will have drop massively before NICE in the UK would even remotely consider this approach.

One wonders how Roche will even get their huge investment returns.

Dick

[Hidden]

CAR-T (Chimeric Antigen Receptor / T-Cell Therapy) will do far far more than cure basically everything. This technology will stop aging, and likely anything else you can think of....especially when you consider it being combined with CRISPR Tech....both scary and fascinating. The chemistry and technology behind CAR-T is beyond star trek.

Huge fan of Tech...been doing Hardware and software for 36 years. Not a big fan of where Tech is going.

Scott US/Maine

Thinking Poor Cap't Kirk Sick Bay was primitive

[Indolent]

I suspect many patients will not trade the toxicity of the current treatments for the financial toxicity of CAR-T. Their current pricing will have a very small market.

[newyork8 in reply to Indolent]

Well Ibrutinib is ongoing at $100k a year. For a younger person is Car t cheaper?

[DaleFL in reply to newyork8]

I totally agree. And what about the cost of using venetoclax and ibrutinib as a combo therapy for multiple years. Let’s keep an open mind and at least get to the point where car T cell therapy is as effective as it is for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Then we can talk about how we can pay for it and whether it costs more or less than other therapies.

[AussieNeil Administrator in reply to DaleFL]

Venetoclax alone can result in a complete response in previously heavy treatments and coupled with Ibrutinib the results are even more impressive. It looks like most patients will only need to be on the VI combination for a short period, not indefinitely.

See: Prof Hillmen's video here: healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

or read about it in the ASH oral and web poster program ash.confex.com/ash/2017/web...

Conclusion: The combination of IBR with VEN is well tolerated in relapsed, refractory CLL with only two of 41 patients experiencing biochemical TLS to date. All 25 patients reaching the initial response assessment after 6 months of IBR+VEN have responded, 60% are in CR & 28% have achieved an MRD negative remission in the marrow. These early results suggest a potent synergy between ibrutinib & venetoclax.

Or this recent post: healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

CLL Specialist researchers are actively seeking a short term treatment combination that will give lasting remissions, even a cure and they are making great progress.

Neil

[Kwenda]

More information on the costs...

news-medical.net/news/20171...

Dick