cancer patients taking Kymriah , a gene therapy drug developed by doctors , could face total costs of $ 1.5 m . The drug costs around $ 500 to manufacture . The full - time treatment costs $ 475,000 , but dealing with side - effects incurs additional charges , said Dr. ben Kantarjian . More than one - third of Kymriah patients relapse within a month . Novartis said it is working on an " outcomes - based pricing " plan , and wo n't charge for the drug if patients go into surgery within the first month of treatment .
Leukaemia patients taking Kymriah, a gene therapy drug developed by Novartis, could face total costs of $1.5m. The drug costs around $15,000 to manufacture. The one-time treatment costs $475,000, but dealing with side-effects incurs additional charges, said Dr. Hagop Kantarjian. More than one-third of Kymriah users relapse within a year. Novartis said it is working on an "outcomes-based pricing" plan, and won't charge for the drug if patients go into remission within the first month of treatment.