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Novartis Pharma CEO Sees Zolgensma Supplanting Spinraza

 
• By Kevin Grogan

The Swiss major's pharma chief tells Scrip that its gene therapy for SMA offers much more than Biogen's Spinraza for both patients and payers, noting that the company is ready with alternative payment models for the pricey treatment as soon as approvals for Zolgensma are granted.

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Novartis expects demand for Zolgensma to be high • Source: Shutterstock

Novartis AG is confident that Zolgensma, its closely watched gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy, will quickly take over from Biogen Inc.'s Spinraza as standard of care for the disease. It is preparing a variety of payment plans for the one-off treatment that could command a price of over $4m.

The FDA is expected to give the green light to Zolgensma, formerly known as AVXS-101, which Novartis got hold of through its $8.7bn acquisition of AveXis last year

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