ISSUE:

Despite their promising clinical benefits, cell and gene therapies face a myriad of unique issues to guarantee their access and funding: the science is complex, administration requires capability building, and therapies have a high cost, as the treatment is sold in a onetime payment per unit that potentially provides superior benefits to therapies administered continuously but paid throughout years. The high upfront cost paired with durable clinical benefits raises concerns about their sustainability in the health care systems’ traditional funding models.

These barriers are more pronounced in emerging markets given the lack of infrastructure and capabilities required to overcome the existent hurdles and the financial impact caused by the reimbursement of these new technologies. As cell and gene therapies expand to emerging markets, there is an urgent need to identify practical and sustainable solutions to allow patients in these markets to access innovative therapies.

OVERVIEW:

In this panel, experts from different perspectives and geographies ranging from the ex-MoH experience in Turkey to the discussion of innovative contracting in the Brazilian public health system, will share their perspectives and experience on the challenges that come with the access and funding of cell and gene therapies given the challenges associated with the upfront costs and potential long term clinical benefits of cell and gene therapies.

Valeria Boers Trilles will provide a short overview of the current cell and gene therapies landscape in emerging markets and will set the stage by posing key questions for the panelists to debate:

What are the key learnings from prior experience in achieving access and funding of high-cost, high-value therapies in emerging markets? Considering the specificities of the challenges faced by emerging markets and based on the European Union and United States experiences; what would be sustainable solutions to unlock access to these therapies in emerging markets?