Overpriced SMA drugs

Designer drugs command top dollar, to be sure. But what sky-high price is still deemed cost-effective? A new ICER analysis suggests that a duo of spinal muscular atrophy drugs would need much lower price tags than drug makers would prefer, STAT’s Ed Silverman writes. For instance, Novartis has said that Zolgensma — its forthcoming gene therapy — would be cost-effective at a price as high as $5 million. But ICER estimates it ought to cost in the range of $310,000 to $900,000.

The other drug — Biogen’s Spinraza — already costs $750,000 for year one and $375,000 thereafter. But the ICER review suggests the drug should cost closer to $710,000 for the first dose, and between $72,000 and $130,000 in subsequent years.