2 April 2016 - GSKis to allow health systems to make staggered payments for one of Europe’s first gene therapies in a sign of the pharmaceuticals industry experimenting with new economic models for expensive one-off treatments.

An expert committee of the European Medicines Agency on Friday recommended approval for GSK’s Strimvelis treatment for an ultra-rare immune system disorder that puts children at deadly risk from everyday infections.

Strimvelis is among the first of a new generation of “advanced therapies” that aim to cure diseases by fixing faulty cells and genes. They are seen as an important step forward in medical science but pose a challenge to health systems because of their exceptionally high cost.

GSK has not revealed the price it plans to charge for Strimvelis but the first gene therapy approved by European regulators in 2012 — Glybera for a blood-clogging condition called lipoprotein lipase deficiency — costs about $1m per patient.

Martin Andrews, head of rare diseases at GSK, said the UK group would take a “flexible approach” with Strimvelis, including the potential for annuity-style payments spread over time.

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