An independent review board, such as ICER, responsible for assessing appropriate costs for therapies and drugs has been discussed for years. Calls for such a health technology assessment board (HTA) are increasing as many note that novel cell and gene-based therapies, while many times effective, are also expensive—sometimes prohibitively so.
According to former MedPAC commissioner Kathy Buto, “[A centralized US HTA] is something that the pharma industry has really not wanted to see because it’s the idea of a single entity making judgments about the value or cost effectiveness of new technologies. But if ever there was a poster child for that kind of entity [cell and gene therapy] might be it.” Read more here.
(Source: Cathy Kelly, Pink Sheet, Informa, 2/11/21)
