The Promise of Outcomes-Based Agreements for Cell and Gene Therapies

With as many as 20 cell and gene therapies expected to begin hitting the market per year by 2025, there is a pressing need for stakeholders to find cost-effective ways to help more patients gain access to these life-changing innovations to treat inherited or acquired diseases and genetic disorders. Unfortunately, because of their limited durability data, one-time administration, and/or price ranges of hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars per patient, they struggle to fit into the traditional treatment and reimbursement paradigms designed for treating chronic diseases.

Cell and gene manufacturers are increasingly turning to innovative payment models, such as outcomes-based agreements (OBAs), that address payer uncertainty across both financial and clinical outcomes. Despite the numerous benefits for both payers and manufacturers, OBAs still are not as widely implemented as one might expect.

Our experts share insights on the strategic and infrastructural challenges hindering broader adoption of OBAs, how to overcome them, and key considerations for effectively implementing them. 

By Visakh Prabhakar, Sam Worrapong Kit-Anan, Zachary Kleiman, and Youbean Oak, Ph.D.