Czech MEP advocates EU budget support for high-cost gene and cell therapies [Advocacy Lab Content]

1 month ago 25

The rising cost of transformative therapies, which can run into millions of euros for each treatment, has prompted calls for innovative funding solutions, including support from the EU budget.

According to the Czech MEP Ondřej Knotek (ANO, Patriots), a member of the EP’s ENVI Committee, the EU should use its budget as a guarantee for these high-cost treatments, easing the financial burden on national healthcare systems and private insurers.

Transformative therapies, such as gene and cell therapies, have the potential to cure or significantly alter the course of diseases. However, their high costs pose significant challenges for health systems and insurers, making them difficult to cover under current funding models.

Czech MEP Knotek argues that the EU budget could help. “The idea of paying for these therapies directly from the EU budget is too bold,” Knotek told Euractiv.cz, proposing instead that the EU budget could provide guarantees or interest-free loans to insurance companies.”

“To put it simply, the EU budget could provide cover. We need to explore these ways of modern financing models,” Knotek said.

Next year, the European Commission will propose the new EU multi-annual financial framework (budget) for the period beyond 2027. As Knotek hinted, this could be an opportunity to include new financial tools to cover the costs of high-innovative medicines.

Stakeholders support new financing models

The European Alliance for Transformative Therapies (TRANSFORM), a multi-stakeholder coalition active in the field of transformative therapies in Europe, supports this initiative. It emphasises the need for new financial models that spread the cost of these therapies over time.

This could involve reinsurance, where insurers share the risk of covering expensive treatments, or risk-pooling mechanisms, which distribute the financial burden among a group of stakeholders. These models aim to mitigate problems associated with the upfront costs of these therapies, which can exceed €2 million per patient.

Using the EU budget as a backstop for these expenses could stabilise the market for innovative treatments, encouraging pharmaceutical companies to invest in Europe.

This strategy could also ensure that these therapies are more widely available across member states, irrespective of the disparities in national healthcare budgets. The TRANSFORM MEP Interest Group, which Knotek chairs, is actively engaging with policymakers to promote these solutions.

An example of the challenges patients needing expensive treatments face is the recent “Martínek case” in Czechia. The crowdfunding campaign launched for Martínek, a young boy requiring a costly life-saving medication, successfully raised CZK100 million (approximately €4 million). In this case, insurance companies were unable to cover the treatment, making crowdfunding the only viable option to secure the necessary funds.

The affordability and accessibility of medicines in Europe should be at least partly addressed by the new EU pharmaceutical legislation, which is currently in the pipeline.

“The pharmaceutical package could influence whether pharmaceutical companies invest in maintaining or creating new production capacity in Europe, as it addresses data protection, which is a key motivator for companies,” Knotek emphasised.

“After the experience of the COVID pandemic, we should aim for strategic commodities – such as medicines or minimally active substances – to be produced in Europe,” Knotak added.

He also said that the EU should focus more on the prevention and early detection of diseases, as this can not only have a positive impact on a patient’s chances of recovery but it will also reduce overall costs and leave more money in healthcare systems to fund, for example, rare diseases medicines.

[By Aneta Zachová, Edited by Vasiliki Angouridi, Brian Maguire | Euractiv’s Advocacy Lab]