BioMarin's gene therapy drug may be even more expensive than Zolgensma

BioMarin Pharmaceutical may price its gene therapy treatment for hemophilia even higher than Zolgensma, Novartis' gene therapy drug that is currently the world's most expensive, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

BioMarin is developing a gene therapy drug it calls Valrox to treat the most common form of hemophilia, but it has not yet been FDA-approved. 

BioMarin CEO Jean-Jacques Bienaimé told the Journal that it is considering pricing Valrox between $2 million and $3 million. Zolgensma costs $2.1 million. 

Mr. Bienaimé said the company has spoken to insurers who indicated that they'd be comfortable covering Valrox if it were priced in that range. 

He added that the overall cost of treating hemophilia would drop even if the drug cost $3 million, since BioMarin calculated the lifetime cost of treating the disease at $25 million. 

"If we charge even $3 [million], society is better off," Mr. Bienaimé told the Journal

He also said BioMarin is open to creating a value-based payment plan for Valrox, which would be the first gene therapy approved in the U.S. to treat an inherited type of hemophilia.  

Read the full article here.

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