Zolgensma will treat about 240 babies per year at $2.125 million each for a single dose, according to Novartis.
Those babies will be cured of a rare genetic disease. The cost of that cure will be borne mainly by insurance companies.
But how did Novartis get to that breath-taking number?
We do know something about Novartis' costs. Novartis bought Zolgensma from another company for $9 billion. The Wall Street Journal called it a bet that the drug would work. Then, Novartis spent about $400 million to get FDA approval, according to Continental Telegraph. Some estimate that Novartis then spent $1.5 billion in associated approval costs. If you are counting, that is $11 billion to develop a drug that will cure 20 babies a month for 10 years. The entire patient base is 2,400 babies during 10 years, at which time the drug's patent wears off and other companies will make the drug cheaper.
This used to be called an 'orphan drug' — a drug that is catastrophically expensive to develop but one which very few people need, making its development unfeasible.
While Novartis (and the FDA) think this will be effective, for the next 10 years patients will be followed closely. If it does prove to be what it seems, Zolgensma will probably lead the way to other genetic cures.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.