[CAR-T cells in acute lymphoblastic leukemias: What's new?]

How much does the hospital stay for infusion of anti-CD19 CAR-T cells cost to the French National Health Insurance?

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-T cells) have the potential to be a major innovation as a new type of cancer treatment, but are associated with extremely high prices and a high level of uncertainty. This study aims to assess the cost of the hospital stay for the administration of anti-CD19 CAR-T cells in France. Data were collected from the French Medical Information Systems Program (PMSI) and all hospital stays associated with an administrated drug encoded 9439938 (tisagenlecleucel, Kymriah®) or 9440456 (axicabtagene ciloleucel, Yescarta®) between January 2019 and December 2020 were included. 485 hospital stays associated with an injection of anti-CD19 CAR-T cells were identified, of which 44 (9%), 139 (28.7%), and 302 (62.3%) were for tisagenlecleucel in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), tisagenlecleucel in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and axicabtagene ciloleucel respectively. The lengths of the stays were 37.9, 23.8, and 25.9 days for tisagenlecleucel in ALL, tisagenlecleucel in DLBCL, and axicabtagene ciloleucel, respectively. The mean costs per hospital stay were € 372,400 for a tisagenlecleucel in ALL, € 342,903 for tisagenlecleucel in DLBCL, and € 366,562 for axicabtagene ciloleucel. CAR T-cells represented more than 80% of these costs. n=13 hospitals performed CAR-T cell injections, with two hospitals accounting for more than 50% of the total number of injections. This study provides original data in a context of limited information regarding the costs of hospitalization for patients undergoing CAR-T cell treatments. In addition to the financial burden, distance may also be an important barrier for accessing CAR T-cell treatment.