Episode 52

Papers Unplugged: Is CAR-T Economically Sustainable?

Is CAR-T economically sustainable?

Join our guest Prof Martin Dreyling and host Dr Nathalie van Havre as they discuss the costs of CAR-T cell therapy for the treatment of blood disorders at an individual level and whether it is economically sustainable for health systems.

Listen along as they consider the financial challenges of patient selection for this costly life-saving therapy, based on Prof Dreyling’s experience with relapsed or refractory Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) patients. Challenges touched upon include reimbursement policies, time lags and associated costs of personalized therapy, and choosing the indications to include.

Prof Dreyling further offers his insights into the overall financial burden for health systems based on his participation on a recent Budget Impact Analysis (BIA) carried out in DLBCL patients in Germany. Finally, our guests contemplate cancer immunotherapy perspectives for the coming years, including bispecific antibodies as a potentially cost-effective alternative in development.

The details of the BIA were recently described in the article Budget Impact Analysis of CAR T-cell Therapy for Adult Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma in Germany published in HemaSphere by Skalt D, Moertl B, von Bergwelt-Baildon M, Schmidt C, Schoel W, Bücklein V, Weiglein T, Dreyling M, and Berger K.

Host: Dr Nathalie van Havre; Guest: Prof Martin Dreyling

This is the fifth of a series of podcasts discussing recently published scientific articles. More podcasts will be available in the future. Stay tuned!