The following is a translated and adapted statement from Janusinfo on the approval of Luxturna in Swedish regions. Click here to access the original article.
It is now recommended that Swedish regions use the gene therapy Luxturna for Inherited Retinal Degeneration (IRD).
New data from the company, which is the basis for a new health economic valuation and a lower price, means that the NT Council has decided to recommend the regions to use Luxturna for hereditary eye disease.
Luxturna (voretigene neparvovek) is a relatively new drug for the treatment of a rare IRD. Luxturna is a gene therapy and opens up a new way of treating this disease.
“The treatment is promising and the clinical studies show that the treatment effect remains for at least three years. The treatment will hopefully mean that patients’ eyesight will remain for many years after treatment, which should lead to an improved quality of life and reduced need for vision aids for a very long time”, says NT Council President Gerd Lärfars.
In 2019, the NT Council recommended the regions not to use Luxturna due to lack of cost-effectiveness. TLV has now made a renewed health economic assessment of Luxturna based on new data from the company. This, together with an agreement on a discount, means that the NT Council now recommends the regions to use Luxturna.
“After a negotiation with the company, the NT Council has assessed that the negotiation has resulted in a reasonable price level,” says Gerd Lärfars.
NT Council
NT-rådet (NT Council) is a Swedish government organization whose role is to advise the different health care regions on which treatment reimbursement.
Speaking on behalf of Svenska RP-föreningen, Swedish member organisation of Retina International, Caisa Ramshage states:
“We from the Swedish RP association are very happy over this decision. This will restore vision to young people who otherwise would go blind in their teenage years or young adulthood. This is the first therapy available for people living with an IRD and we see it as an important step that this life-changing treatment is available for all who need it.”
Visit https://retinanytt.se/en/ for more