Cost-effectiveness of gene therapy for sickle cell disease in Uganda: tailoring high-income evidence to Uganda’s context

Abstract

Blood stem cell gene therapy to treat hemoglobinopathies is beginning to transform health for small numbers of patients in the U.S. and Europe, where these conditions qualify as rare diseases. Yet hemoglobinopathies are common globally, disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), creating an ethical imperative to ensure access where disease burden is greatest. Gene therapy could have blockbuster drug potential if distributable to these regions, but cost is a major barrier. Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) models are seldom adapted to low-income settings, where limited data and resources constrain efforts to contextualize high-income evidence. Here, we present a novel framework to evaluate high-income country authorized gene therapies in LMIC contexts. Uganda, where sickle cell disease (SCD) imposes a major burden and no curative therapies are available, is the test case. We evaluate cost-effectiveness of gene therapy for adolescents and adults with SCD in Uganda, adapting U.S. evidence to local economic conditions. Using a three-state Markov model to estimate lifetime costs of standard-of-care in Uganda, two U.S.-based CEA models were adapted using scaling factors and applied to two authorized gene therapies for SCD, Lyfgenia™ (lovo-cel) and Casgevy® (exa-cel), assuming biologically consistent efficacy across populations. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated from healthcare and societal perspectives, with internationally accepted gross domestic product-based thresholds. This study demonstrates that Casgevy could be cost-effective in Uganda at a scaled cost when societal benefits are considered. This framework enables CEAs for emerging therapies where local clinical trial data are limited, supporting local decision-makers, global funders, and manufacturers in advancing equitable access to transformative therapies in LMICs.