UK Regulators Ink CAR-T Agreement

NHS England will be the first European agency to grant lymphoma patients access to Gilead’s breakthrough CAR-T therapy Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel).

The drug targets large B-cell lymphoma and primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma. Adults with either form of lymphoma who have received at least two other therapies without success will now have a chance to use the treatment.

Yescarta would have cost nearly $393,000 per patient but NHS officials negotiated the price down with manufacturer Gilead Sciences. The terms of the deal were not announced. Under the agreement, up to 200 patients per year will be treated.