Barriers and solutions to improve access for chimeric antigen receptor therapies

Chimeric antigen receptor T cells are a potentially curative new therapeutic option, but access challenges remain. The limited number of certified treatment centers and the need to travel to these centers, the expenses of travel and lodging and the out-of-pocket costs associated with treatment pose a challenge for patients. Further, the logistics of follow-up coupled with an ad hoc reimbursement environment make chimeric antigen receptor T-cell treatment an unattractive proposition for many providers. The patient-specific nature of these gene therapies has made scaling up production difficult for manufacturers. Providing expanded financial assistance for patients and education for community oncologists, and addressing reimbursement challenges, can alleviate some of these access barriers.