Posted by Michael Wonder on 19 Dec 2019
'Healthy lottery' fears as Novartis plans to give away world’s most expensive drug
19 December 2019 - Novartis aims to give away 100 doses of its $US2.1 million-per-patient ($3.05 million) Zolgensma for spinal muscular atrophy in 2020 in a free-drug program that one patient group worried was a "health lottery" that could neglect some babies.
Starting January 2, Novartis' AveXis unit which developed Zolgensma will set aside 50 doses of the world's costliest single-dose treatment through June for babies under 2-years-old, Novartis said on Thursday, with up to 100 total doses to be distributed through 2020.
The program would apply to countries where the medicine is not yet approved for the rare genetic disorder that affects only about 1 in 10,000 live births, but which can lead to death and profound physical disabilities.
