Sustainable funding models for rare disease treatments, and in particular gene therapies, must be explored to make sure that patients can gain access to these therapies, according to Claire Booth, professor in gene therapy and pediatric immunology at the UK’s UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).
Not-For-Profit Models Needed For Commercially Unviable Rare Disease Drugs
Developing drugs for some rare diseases is “just not commercially feasible,” meaning that alternative approaches, such as funding through venture philanthropy and not-for-profit models, need to be explored, a gene therapy professor has said.

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Not all companies will be able to access joint scientific consultations under the EU Health Technology Assessment Regulation, but success is still possible for those that engage with national agencies early on, says EUCOPE’s Alexander Natz.
Payers and health technology assessment bodies in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy are either unwilling to use real-world data in assessments or cannot due to their existing frameworks, say representatives from Gilead Sciences and Autolus Therapeutics.
Companies have until 17 March to respond to an EU consultation on a new strategy that will seek to simplify the regulatory framework and make it easier for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises to “access the capital they need” to scale up in the bloc.
Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Peter Marks expects no fundamental changes in support for FDA initiatives and said the Rare Disease Innovation Hub, which promotes cross-center collaboration, is “consistent with what we're hearing in the current environment.”
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Eli Lilly’ will request a re-examination after the European Medicines Agency declined to recommend its Alzheimer’s disease drug Kisunla for EU approval.