Who'll pay for the sickle drugs? And who will take them?

At long last, we have a pair of cutting-edge treatments for sickle cell disease. But a major question lingers: Who will get access to them? 

The New York Times takes a gander at this question, pointing out that the disease itself is not exactly rare: There are about 100,000 people with sickle cell in the U.S., and millions more around the world. Yet the Global Blood Therapeutics drug Oxbryta, as well as Novartis’s Adakveo, both will cost around $100,000 a year. 

It’s unlikely insurers will cover all sickle cell patients who might want to take these drugs. And, beyond that, there are questions over adherence. Still, the issue is another reminder of how debates over drug-pricing have real-world implications.