Veni grant for improving cost-effectiveness analyses for gene therapies

Veni grant for improving cost-effectiveness analyses for gene therapies

Renkse ten Ham (Department of Epidemiology & Health Economics) has been awarded with a Veni grant by The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). She will be using the grant to further develop her research into improving the cost-effective analyses for gene therapies.

More accurately informing reimbursment decisions

Renske: 'Gene therapies accelerated development of potential cures for rare and previously untreatable diseases. However, their high prices cause mayor concerns amongst payers. Cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) are accepted to quantify costs and benefits for reimbursement decisions. The data underlying CEAs of gene therapies is often immature, due to targeting of new, small and "neglected" diseases. By incorporating Bayesian methods into CEAs, I aim to decrease uncertainty to more accurately inform reimbursement decisions. For this, I use spinal muscular atrophy and hemophilia B as case studies. The proposed methods have potential for a wider application in health economics.'

NWO Veni grants

The Veni is an annually awarded, personal scientific grant, is part of the NWO Talent Program and is aimed at researchers who have recently obtained their PhDs. They will conduct research within the full breadth of science. The projects receiving funding therefore focus on a wide variety of topics: from the use of algorithms and AI in criminal justice to the role of gut bacteria in our mental health, and from correcting quantum errors to the distribution of colonial profits in the Netherlands in the 19th century.

In total, five researchers at the UMC Utrecht have been awarded. Read more here.