Jacques Galipeau, MD, on International Insights Into Cell and Gene Therapy Development
The Don and Marilyn Anderson Professor of Oncology at University of Wisconsin – Madison emphasized similar variables in the way of therapy uptake regardless of country.
“There are cost independent variables that are friction points for adoption that have to do with the providers, the infrastructure, the patients themselves with patient hesitancy because of out-of-pocket financial toxicity, that are completely autonomous from the price of the drug. And those variables are actually shockingly similar, whether it be in the UK, or in Spain, where the government pays for all the drug cost, or the US, where some people have commercial insurance, some people have Medicare, some people are self-insured. Those patient specific variables are pretty much the same. And again, understanding that is leads to lessons are applicable across all geographies, independent of the mode of reimbursement or covering the cost of truck."
The International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT) 2024 Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, from May 29 - June 1, brought together leaders of sister scholarly societies to discuss cell and gene therapy development for its presidential plenary. Speakers included Anna Sureda, MD, PhD, president of European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation; Amander Clark, PhD, president, International Society for Stem Cell Research; and Corey Cutler, MD, MPH, FRCP(C), president, American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, with Jacques Galipeau, MD, president, ISCT, chairing the session. The speakers discussed challenges with cell and gene therapies and their current state of development, within each country and internationally.
CGTLive® spoke with Galipeau to learn more about the plenary and insights shared between speakers. He emphasized that while different countries may have different ways of regulating and paying for gene and cell therapies, there are many similar variables in the way of novel therapy uptake regardless of country.
