Indeed. The good news is, it actually turns out to be about the same or cheaper than ongoing treatment of a untreated sickle cell:
"""Each treatment is an individualized “one-off” treatment. For this reason, a single treatment for a single patient is expensive. At present it is estimated that in the UK treatment will cost £1 million or more. In the US the estimated cost is $2 million.
That may seem prohibitive, but we need to consider the overall cost-effectiveness of the treatment, which means comparing the cost of treatment to the cost of managing each disease without the treatment. Sickle cell patient require frequent hospitalization, which can be very expensive. One analysis found that Casgevy can be cost effective at £1.5 million or $1.9 million. This is in range of the estimated cost. Also, the longer the treatment benefits last, the more cost effective the treatment becomes. A lifetime of transfusions or hospital admissions adds up."""
> it actually turns out to be about the same or cheaper than ongoing treatment of a untreated sickle cell
If I were a betting man I'd wager the house that the above is exactly why it costs what it does. 'Pay 2 million now, or pay 2 million over the rest of the patient's life as they suffer' is a pretty inarguable value proposition.
Of course once patents expire and processes refine prices will come down. The wheel of progress rolls on (more of less) as intended.
"""Each treatment is an individualized “one-off” treatment. For this reason, a single treatment for a single patient is expensive. At present it is estimated that in the UK treatment will cost £1 million or more. In the US the estimated cost is $2 million.
That may seem prohibitive, but we need to consider the overall cost-effectiveness of the treatment, which means comparing the cost of treatment to the cost of managing each disease without the treatment. Sickle cell patient require frequent hospitalization, which can be very expensive. One analysis found that Casgevy can be cost effective at £1.5 million or $1.9 million. This is in range of the estimated cost. Also, the longer the treatment benefits last, the more cost effective the treatment becomes. A lifetime of transfusions or hospital admissions adds up."""
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/first-crispr-treatment-appr...