Singapore Announces Subsidies for Cell, Tissue and Gene Therapy Patients

In an effort to help mitigate the financial burden put upon patients requiring cell, tissue and gene therapies, the government of Singapore has announced it will offer substantial subsidies to help cover patient costs.

As of August 1, based on means-testing and household income, Singapore citizens are eligible for a subsidy of up to 75% of the cost of their treatment, capped at $150,000. Permanent residents may be eligible for up to a 22.5% subsidy, capped at $45,000.

The initial subsidies are currently offered for a single product to patients suffering from blood cancers, specifically refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, as well as relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

The initial product to be subsidized, a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, currently costs around $475,000 before subsidies. Additional cell, tissue and gene therapy products (CTGTPs) will likely be added to the subsidy list based on clinical need, clinical effectiveness, cost and budget impact.

Dr. Wee Kiat Tan, co-CEO of CytoMed Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GDTC) said of the subsidies, “The Singapore government has taken a significant step towards not only offering financial assistance to patients in need, but has signaled, in my opinion, its steadfast endorsement of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies.

“However, while subsides to patients are important and very much needed, we believe CytoMed’s cancer therapy products could greatly reduce the cost of CAR T-cell therapies, as we plan to create an “off the shelf” solution targeting not only blood cancers, but solid tumors as well.

“Production of our drug could be quickly scaled, bringing costs down significantly. This would allow for far more patient access to life-saving CAR T-cell therapies, potentially without the need for government subsidies.”

Read more about Singapore’s CTGTPs subsidies HERE

Or see CytoMed Therapeutics’ latest investor presentations HERE