Will price be a barrier to new cancer immunotherapy?

CNBC News

19 January 2019 - Advisory group CADTH recommends no funding for new CAR-T therapy until drug company lowers cost.

A revolutionary new cancer treatment is now available in Canada, but provinces are being advised not to cover it until the price comes down — a price that is being kept secret from Canadians.

Health Canada approved Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) in September. It's a form of CAR-T immunotherapy, in which a patient's blood cells are removed, reprogrammed to attack cancer and then re-injected back into their body.

For the first time ever, some Canadians with specific forms of hard-to-treat leukemia and lymphoma can be treated with this therapy. If their doctors decide they're candidates, they won't have to wait to be accepted into a clinical trial.

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Michael Wonder

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Michael Wonder