CAR-T cell therapy benefits limited to few patients because of ‘Insurance Snags’

Two CAR T-cell therapies has now been approved in the United States ― tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah, Novartis), for certain pediatric and young adult patients who have a form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta, Kite/Gliead) for adult patients with relapsed/refractory aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma who are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplant.

“The biggest issue has been insurance, particularly with Medicare and Medicaid,” said Michael Bishop, MD, director of the cellular therapy program at the University of Chicago Medicine, Illinois, who was quoted in the article. “There’s no billing codes for this. It’s been difficult, to be very blunt.”