Time for a 'new car smell' for managing cell and gene therapy costs

Aradigm is not entering uncharted territory, says its CEO and co-founder, Will Shrank, M.D. Many people, organizations, and companies are grappling with how to cope with the financing, cost and quality of ultra-expensive cell and gene therapy, he noted, including the large pharmacy benefit managers [PBMs].

“Uptake has been slower than many would have expected for those incumbents, and I’m not here to speak to the reason why that might be. I think there have been challenges in sort of public perception around PBMs and the tactics and approaches that they use,“ says Shrank, a longtime member of Managed Healthcare Executive’s editorial advisory board. “I do not mean to denigrate or say anything bad about the way in which they are approaching these problems. But I do think that this is a moment that calls for something that has a bit of a new car smell and is trying to create a more deeply aligned ecosystem around doing what’s right for patients.”

Shrank’s company is attempting to position itself as an alternative that can successfully carve out cell and gene therapy from the rest of healthcare insurance by managing costs and financing, contracting with a curated group of providers, and providing disease management and care coordination to patients.

In this, the fourth segment from a wide-ranging interview, Shrank said that Aradigm has a total of $25 million from three venture partners: Andreessen Horowitz, Frist Cressey and Morgan Health. Shrank used to work for Andreessen Horowitz.

Aradigm is organized as a public benefit corporation, which means some of the company’s funds have to go toward a chosen public benefit. Shrank said Aradigm decided to organize itself that way “to have clarity with our board that this is truly a mission-driven company that’s focused on solving a really important problem. We wanted to make sure that our investors were really aligned with those goals.”