Speaking of expensive drugs

Yesterday, we asked readers how much Novartis will charge for Zolgensma, a soon-to-be-approved gene therapy for the muscle-wasting spinal atrophy.

About 44% guessed the price would be between $1 million and $2 million for a one-time dose, which would make it the most expensive medicine in human history. Another 26% think Novartis will ask for $2 million to $3 million, while 20% figure it’ll cost less than $1 million. Just 10 percent said the price will exceed $3 million.

As a reminder, Novartis has said Zolgensma would be cost-effective at $4 million for a dose but promised to price it at a fraction of that. ICER, a nonprofit that studies the economic benefits of new medicines, concluded that it would be worthwhile at between $310,000 and $900,000.

The FDA has promised to approve the gene therapy by the end of the month, so we’ll find out soon enough.