CAR-T pricing decision looms large for Novartis

When setting the price not only of the first drug of its kind to reach the market, but also one that is manufactured for each individual patient, a drugmaker might feel justified in asking for a good return to cover the significant development and manufacturing costs.

But this is a time when drug prices are in the spotlight, particularly in the USA, and President Donald Trump has called for a crackdown on companies seeking to make profits at the expense of US patients.

This is the sensitive situation that Novartis (NOVN: VX) is in with its pioneering CAR-T cell therapy CTL019 (tisagenlecleucel-T) looking increasingly likely to be the first drug from this promising new area of cancer research to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later this year.