Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: VRTX) announced it signed a reimbursement agreement with Germany's GKV-Spitzenverband for CASGEVY, its CRISPR/Cas9 gene-edited therapy. The agreement provides coverage for eligible patients ages 12 years and older with severe sickle cell disease or transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia.

CASGEVY is a one-time treatment that uses a patient's own edited blood stem cells to increase production of fetal hemoglobin. The therapy aims to reduce or eliminate vaso-occlusive crises in sickle cell disease patients and transfusion requirements in beta thalassemia patients.

The German agreement adds to existing reimbursement coverage in Austria, Denmark, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Ludovic Fenaux, Senior Vice President of Vertex International, stated this represents the first long-term gene therapy access agreement in Germany for these conditions.

In the European Union, CASGEVY is approved for patients 12 years and older with severe sickle cell disease with recurrent vaso-occlusive crises or transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia, when hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is appropriate but a matched related donor is not available.

The treatment involves a multi-step process including cell collection, manufacturing that can take up to six months, conditioning medicine, and infusion followed by a hospital stay of 4-6 weeks for monitoring. Common side effects include low platelet and white blood cell levels during the recovery period.

Information in this article is based on the company's press release statement.