15 May 2019 - A Japanese government panel approved on Wednesday a price of 33.5 million yen ($305,800) for Novartis’ cancer treatment Kymriah, allowing the Swiss drug maker to press ahead with a campaign to kick-start sluggish sales of the treatment.
The one-time, personalized therapy, which was approved in Japan in March, will be available in the country for young people with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and adult patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
The so-called CAR-T therapy, which Novartis believes could treat up to 216 Japanese patients a year, potentially generating annual sales of 7.2 billion yen ($65.7 million), has been a hailed as a revolutionary, last-ditch hope for people whose cancer advanced after previous treatment.