NorthWest Biotherapeutics Inc (NWBO)

[hyperopia]

skitahoe, I would speculate the cost to produce DCVax manually is a little less (maybe 50k) than the compassionate-use price that Advent charges (£250k). The cost savings achieved by moving from isolated high-grade clean rooms to a lower-grade cleanroom environment, cutting fifteen manpower hours of culturing labor down to three, automation and digitization of batch records, economies of scale, etc., by using the Flaskworks system, would be very significant, perhaps around 40%.

NICE initially refused to cover both of the expensive CAR-T treatments, Kymriah, and Yescarta, which seems somewhat common during early stages of negotiation, but did eventually recommended covering both treatments after discounts were negotiated (Novartis cut their list price down to £282k) or limiting coverage through managed access. So yes, I would agree that some acceptable pricing arrangement would be found for DCVax if manually produced, but NICE may restrict coverage initially if the price is too high.

Ordinarily, NICE considers new treatments cost-effective if their cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained is between £20k-30k, meaning the cost to the NHS for a year of good health does not exceed that threshold.