Novartis' long-awaited treatment for spinal muscular atrophy is now the world's most expensive drug with a $2.1 million price tag. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that it has approved Novartis' gene therapy treatment, which means that it should now be available to the public or at least to those who can afford it.
The gene therapy drug, called Zolgensma, is a one-time treatment for people suffering from spinal muscular atrophy. The particular muscle-wasting disease mostly affects children, which is why it is currently the leading genetic cause of infant mortality in the world. The disease affects around one in every 11,000 births.
Prior to FDA approval, Novartis mentioned that it could be pricing its new treatment somewhere between $1.5 million to $5 million. It seems like the company has now finally settled on a price that is still within its previously announced range. Following the news of the FDA's approval of Zolgensma, Novartis share prices surged by as much as 4 percent.
To give some of its less capable customers a chance to buy the treatment, Novartis revealed that it will be offering the drug in a $425,000 a year payment scheme payable in five years. Novartis also announced that it has been working closely with health insurance companies to provide customers with different pay-over-time options. The company is reportedly in talks with 15 insurance companies to discuss different payment options for the expensive drug.
Novartis' new treatment has recently been the subject of date, mostly due to its astronomical price tag. However, the novel new gene therapy drug has been proven to work and sufferers of the dreaded genetic disease can be cured with just a single treatment.
Some critics of the drug have mentioned that the government should step in to try to find a way to bring the price down. Novartis has, of course, spent billions in developing the drug and millions more to produce it, which is why they can't really price it as low as what most consumers would be able to afford.
In defense of the drug's expensive pricing, Novartis reasoned that the one-time treatment would actually cost 50 percent less than the amount that is spent on chronic disease management for muscular atrophy sufferers.
Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan recently mentioned in a statement that the drug is a landmark for gene therapy as a new form of treatment.
The company is apparently doing what it can to make the historic advancement available to those who need it by working with different institutions. Narasimhan also mentioned that insurers were willing to cover the cost of the treatment.
