CHOP Will Be Provider in Independence Blue Cross’s Gene Therapy Network

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Today Independence Blue Cross (Independence) announced that Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) will be a provider in the insurer’s new Advanced Network for Gene-Based Therapeutics, effective March 1, 2023. The new network will allow those insured by Independence to access potentially life-changing gene therapies at best-in-class health care providers that have demonstrated an ability to exceed quality, safety, and value benchmarks in administering gene-based therapies. The sites included in the network include CHOP and Penn Medicine.

CHOP has been a leader in the development and clinical rollout of some of the first gene-based therapies, including the first gene-based therapy for a genetic disease ever approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As pioneers in the field, CHOP experts are trained in and familiar with gene therapy protocols that have been established to ensure optimal safety and outcomes. The new network will cover treatments for conditions that include a genetic form of blindness, as well as severe neurological and blood diseases.

“At CHOP, we’re driven by a relentless commitment to discover and provide the best treatments to pediatric patients, and this program with Independence will allow us to reach patients for whom gene-based therapies could be potentially life-changing,” said Joseph W. St. Geme, MD, physician-in-chief and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at CHOP. “CHOP has been a leader in developing pediatric gene-based therapies, and working with our colleagues at Penn Medicine, we’ve taken cell and gene therapies from the bench to the bedside. We look forward to continuing this collaboration and leading the way in providing the best possible treatments for children with genetic diseases as part of the Advanced Network for Gene-Based Therapeutics.”

Learn more about the Advanced Network for Gene-Based Therapies here.

Contact: Emily DiTomo, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 267-426-6063 or ditomoe@chop.edu