The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved a futuristic new approach to treating cancer, clearing a Novartis therapy that has produced unprecedented results in patients with a rare and deadly cancer. The price tag: $475,000 for a course of treatment.
That sounds staggering to many patients — but it’s far less than analysts expected.
advertisement
The therapy, called a CAR-T, is made by harvesting patients’ white blood cells and rewiring them to home in on tumors. Novartis’s product is the first CAR-T therapy to come before the FDA, leading a pack of novel treatments that promise to change the standard of care for certain aggressive blood cancers.
Unlock this article by subscribing to STAT+ and enjoy your first 30 days free!
GET STARTED Log In
.png?upscale=true&width=1212&upscale=true&name=vTFET-vaccine-makers-surge-on-bird-flu-fears(3).png)
