Gene Therapy Reimbursement: Is Blindness A Bad First Test?

The first gene therapy approval could be coming soon – followed shortly by the first ever gene therapy coverage decision. An Express Scripts executive argues that the tone may be affected by the initial indication.

close up of an eye

Spark Therapeutics Inc.'s voretigene neparvovec is pending at FDA for treatment of a rare form of hereditary blindness and seems likely to become the first-ever gene therapy approval in the US. By default, it will then become the test case for how reimbursement and coverage policy works in the context of gene therapy.

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