Vizient, Inc. hosted its inaugural Insight: Cell, Gene, and Specialty Pharmacy Symposium, bringing together leading healthcare providers, payers and manufacturers of high-cost, ultra-specialty pharmaceuticals along with other stakeholders to discuss the promise and unique challenges of the rapidly expanding market of cell, gene and other advanced therapies. The three-day meeting began April 8 in Atlanta.

To date, there are 22 ultra-specialty treatments approved in the U.S. with prices ranging from $450,000 to $4.25 million for a single dose treatment. Some estimates predict the market for these agents could reach $25 billion by 2026.

“These innovations and their transformative potential offer tremendous hope not only for the rare diseases to which they are targeted today, but for broader patient populations as the innovations continue to expand,” said keynote speaker Madeleine McDowell, MD, senior principal at Vizient. “These advancements may ultimately allow us to innovate ourselves out of some of the current public health crises that have been so enduring and so problematic.”

The meeting consisted of presentations and panel discussions focused on operational and financial challenges that providers, suppliers and payers must navigate to enable access to these agents, including:

• Implementing best practices for managing financial impact and payer coverage decisions
• Managing unique storage and logistical needs
• Addressing the requirements and authorization processes to become a qualified treatment center
• Establishing multidisciplinary teams across health systems that include all operational aspects of delivering cell and gene therapy such as finance, pharmacy, manage care teams, laboratory, nursing, and physicians.
• Ensuring equitable access for all patients

“Our traditional supply chain, patient care and coverage models have failed to keep pace with the clinical advancement of these medications,” said Steven Lucio, PharmD, senior principal at Vizient. “That has to change if providers and their patients are to realize the full benefit of the enormous investments being made in these areas of disease management.”

Through symposiums like these and our advanced therapy solutions, Vizient is working to promote rapid innovation in the supply chain, patient management and coverage processes that accompany these increasingly influential categories of drugs. View a summary of the Insight: Cell, Gene, and Specialty Symposium. For more information on cell and gene therapy, please see the Vizient 2024 Winter edition of the Pharmacy Market Outlook. For more information on Vizient’s advanced therapy solutions, please contact pharmacyquestions@vizientinc.com.

About Vizient, Inc.

Vizient, Inc., the nation’s largest provider-driven healthcare performance improvement company, serves more than 65% of the nation’s acute care providers, which includes 97% of the nation’s academic medical centers, and more than 35% of the non-acute care market. Vizient provides expertise, analytics and advisory services, as well as a contract portfolio that represents $140 billion in annual purchasing volume. Vizient’s solutions and services improve the delivery of high-value care by aligning cost, quality and market performance. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Vizient has offices throughout the United States. Learn more at www.vizientinc.com.

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