CAR-T Meeting 2024 | The cost-effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapy
With CAR T-cell therapy, as with all novel therapeutic approaches, the financial implications of the treatment must be considered. In this video, Gérard de Pouvourville, PhD, ESSEC Business School, Cergy, France, discusses the cost-effectiveness of CAR-T therapy, highlighting that the cost-effectiveness-ratio is within the range of that observed with other therapies in the field of cancer treatment. This interview took place at the EBMT-EHA 6th European CAR T-cell Meeting in Valencia, Spain.
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Transcript (edited for clarity)
Yes, well, if you look at published data on the cost-effectiveness of CAR T-cells, you do find quite a diversity of results, for one good reason. I mean, indications are not the same from one CAR-T to another, and of course, you get more benefit when you’re treating children than when you’re treating adults. So, if you look at the results of the study, there’s one major issue, of course, is that there’s a lot of uncertainty on long-term benefits...
Yes, well, if you look at published data on the cost-effectiveness of CAR T-cells, you do find quite a diversity of results, for one good reason. I mean, indications are not the same from one CAR-T to another, and of course, you get more benefit when you’re treating children than when you’re treating adults. So, if you look at the results of the study, there’s one major issue, of course, is that there’s a lot of uncertainty on long-term benefits.
So, if you look at the extrapolation of clinical data over the lifetime of the patients, you do get substantial benefits in terms of lives saved and also lives saved adjusted to the quality of life.
So the cost-effectiveness ratio would range from, let’s say, €40,000 to €60,000 per QALY.
Now, if you consider that the uncertainty is very high, then you have much higher answers, around 150 to 200 [thousand] euros per QALY.
Now, of course, even €150,000 per QALY or €250,000 per QALY are in the ranges of the usual numbers you get when you look at recent oncology drugs.
But the interesting thing, of course, is that, in general, all these models do yield higher benefits in terms of saving lives and saving lives adjusted to quality of life. So this is where you find some sort of justification of a high price with a one-shot treatment, but which compensates other treatments that will last, I mean, during the whole life of the patient.
So today, the cost-effectiveness of CAR T-cells is not outside the range of what you see usually in cancer and it could be even lower. But that, of course, does not necessarily justify high prices.
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Disclosures
Gérard de Pouvourville is a health economist and an advisory board member for the following companies: Abbott, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Roche, and Sanofi. He has received research funding from Amgen, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, MSD, Novartis, Roche, and Sanofi. He has received honoraria for his participation on the RELIEF study advisory board.
