CMS to work with Vertex, blubird to improve access to therapies, Reuters reports

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has entered into agreements with Vertex Pharmaceuticals (blue‘>VRTX) and bluebird bio (BLUE) to help increase patient access to their gene therapies, Lyfgenia and Casgevy, Reuters’ Bhanvi Satija reports. The “outcomes-based agreements” will tie payments to whether the therapy improves health outcomes for patients who receive these drugs and are enrolled in government-backed Medicaid insurance plans, according to the report. The Vertex-CRISPR therapy has a U.S. list price of $2.2M, while bluebird’s is $3.1M.