Medicaid will be biggest payer for Sarepta’s DMD gene therapy

Now that Sarepta and the Duchenne muscular dystrophy advocacy community have persuaded FDA to grant accelerated approval to Elevidys, their next challenge will be coverage and reimbursement. Because almost half of DMD patients are covered by Medicaid, much of the cost will fall on state governments that are already struggling to fund healthcare, raising concerns among patient advocates about inequities in access as well as bureaucratic delays that could prevent children from accessing the therapy.

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT) has set a $3.2 million price for Elevidys delandistrogene moxeparvovec. Mandatory discounts will reduce the price to Medicaid by about 20%, the company’s President and CEO Douglas Ingram said Thursday on a call with investors. ...