- Center on Health Equity and Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
Dr Lee Schwartzberg Outlines Potential Steps to Expand Access of Novel Therapies in Immuno-Oncology
As we move from the mono-therapy era into the combination era, we have to think of new arrangements, perhaps value-based arrangements that will work with the payers and the manufacturers so that patients will have access to these drugs and also have the best ability to get value from them, said Lee Schwartzberg, MD, FACP, chief medical officer and board member at OneOncology.
As we move from the mono-therapy era into the combination era, we have to think of new arrangements, perhaps value-based arrangements that will work with the payers and the manufacturers so that patients will have access to these drugs and also have the best ability to get value from them, said Lee Schwartzberg, MD, FACP, chief medical officer and board member at OneOncology.
Transcript
What factors must be prioritized by ACCC member organizations when it comes to expanding access to novel therapies in immuno-oncology?
There are still a lot of operational issues with these exciting new immuno-oncology (IO) agents. The biggest challenge probably is in the cellular therapy space. CAR-T cells are the first opportunity there. They're toxic—they work tremendously, but in the first few days they have to be done in-patient currently. The process of developing CAR-T cells is a long, complicated, and expensive one.
I'm confident that the next generation of technology both for CAR-T cells and managing the side effects will make this easier, but for ACCC, one needs to have a very coordinated group to understand the reimbursement challenges around cellular therapy, the operational challenges around cellular therapy, and the medical challenges around cellular therapy in terms of taking care of those side effects. We have a challenge at the community oncology level of how do we get access for our patients for these lifesaving kinds of procedures. Only a small number of patients, frankly, have been treated with the first-generation CAR-T cells. So, we need to develop new technologies and new operational models to do this.
Reimbursement remains a challenge as well. Reimbursements’ a challenge also for combinations of IO agents, which are really quite expensive. So, as we move from the mono-therapy era, into the combination era, we have to think of new arrangements, perhaps value-based arrangements that will work with the payers and the manufacturers so that patients will have access to these drugs and also have the best ability to get value from them.
The Importance of Examining and Preventing Atrial Fibrillation
August 29th 2023At this year’s American Society for Preventive Cardiology Congress on CVD Prevention, Emelia J. Benjamin, MD, ScM, delivered the Honorary Fellow Award Lecture, “The Imperative to Focus on the Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation,” as the recipient of this year’s Honorary Fellow of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology award.
Listen
Promoting Equity in Public Health: Policy, Investment, and Community Engagement Solutions
June 28th 2022On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, on the core takeaways of his keynote session at AHIP 2022 on public health policy and other solutions to promote equitable health and well-being.
Listen
AUA Session Highlights the General Urologist’s Role in Gender-Affirming Care
May 7th 2024During her session, Polina Reyblat, MD, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, highlighted best practices urologists should incorporate to make transgender and gender-diverse patients comfortable during physical exams and avoid retraumatization.
Read More
