Olivier Le Moal
TD Cowen said in a note that recently approved gene therapies by Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)/CRISPR (NASDAQ:CRSP) and bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) for sickle cell disease may get enhanced payments under proposed guidelines by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS.
The investment bank said CMS’s draft annual update for the hospital inpatient Prospective Payment System proposes a new technology add-on payment, or NTAP, of 75% for the two new therapies rather than the usual 65% for NTAP products.
Cowen added that the higher payment is modeled on an approach CMS employed to incentivize new anti-infectives.
Vertex/CRISPR’s Casgevy and bluebird’s Lyfgenia were approved by the FDA for sickle cell disease in December. Casgevy, a one-time gene therapy, reportedly costs around $2.2M.
More on bluebird bio, CRISPR Therapeutics, etc.
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