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‹ Tue · 9 Jun 2026
SMA gene therapy / DMT access and affordability analysis

Modeling the Budget Impact of Disease-Modifying Therapies in Infantile-Onset Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

Three approved spinal muscular atrophy drugs cost millions per patient, with risdiplam's lifetime expense highest despite lower annual price—important for families and insurers.

This budget impact analysis quantifies the substantial US payer cost burden of SMA disease-modifying therapies, finding that all three approved agents impose multi-million dollar incremental costs over best supportive care. The analysis highlights that risdiplam carries the highest lifetime budget impact despite lower annual cost, due to extended duration of therapy.

What the study was

Study design
Budget impact analysis; state-transition model; 5-year and lifetime horizon, US healthcare payer perspective
Population
Cohort of children with infantile-onset SMA (Type 1 SMA); US healthcare payer
Category
Drug Development
Maturity
Validated
Journal
Clinical Drug Investigation

Why it surfaced

Quantitative budget impact analysis of all three approved SMA DMTs provides actionable cost intelligence for rare disease access planning. Relevant to high-unmet-need rare disease monitoring and healthcare policy; state-transition model with robust data sourcing.

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