ICER report finds costs of approved CAR-T therapies align with clinical benefit

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has released an Evidence Report assessing the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) from Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) and Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel) from Kite Pharma and Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD).

The report found that both therapies provided improvements in response rates and survival for patients who have exhausted most other treatment options, and that the drugs are priced in alignment with their clinical value.

Both tisagenlecleucel and axicabtagene ciloleucel were evaluated for use in adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphoma. Axicabtagene ciloleucel received approval for this indication in late 2017, while tisagenlecleucel is currently under US Food and Drug Administration evaluation. Tisagenlecleucel was also evaluated for pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), for which it received FDA approval in August 2017.