Nordics to Jointly-Negotiate Access to Zynteglo with Bluebird

OSLO, Norway – Bluebird bio has been invited to enter joint negotiations with Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden to ensure quick and equal access to its gene therapy Zynteglo (autologous cd34+ cells encoding BAT87Q-globin gene).

Zynteglo will be the first new drug to enter into joint Nordic collaboration. Representatives from each country will participate to find common terms and conditions for the five countries, but it will be up to each country to decide whether Zynteglo should be introduced for use within the health service.

The Nordics hope to achieve acceptable and sustainable prices for medicines to offer new treatments to patients.

Zynteglo is a gene therapy for the treatment of transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia that does not have a β0 / β0 genotype in adults and children from 12 years of age.

Finland, Norway, and Sweden conducted a joint health economic assessment of Zynteglo through FiNoSe, their collaborative initiative. FiNoSe has primarily served to enable participating countries to jointly evaluate new medicines, not to engage in pricing and reimbursement negotiations together.

Previously, Denmark, Iceland, and Norway have entered into joint procurement of hospital pharmaceuticals, particularly those with expired patents that have been available on the market for some time and have little competition.

Negotiations with bluebird on the price of Zynteglo signal increased collaboration among the Nordics.