The role of insurance in rare disease drug funding

Which rare disease treatments make it to patients? "The hidden kingmaker is not the drug company, it’s insurance," writes CNBC anchor Becky Quick, in setting up her conversation with RA Capital Managing Partner Peter Kolchinsky and Aradigm Health CEO Will Shrank at the network's Cures Summit last week.

Check out their panel below, which walks through the pitfalls and roadblocks littering America's fragmented insurance system. “In a setting where we do all agree these [drugs] are incredibly valuable, and we do want to ultimately pay for them, and we do want to make sure that they’re getting to the right folks, we do have the responsibility to build the infrastructure to make it better,” said Shrank.

Come for the commentary around out-of-pocket costs, affordability, and insurance design, stay for the Flaming Cheetos socks.

And we'd be remiss if we didn't also flag the conference's concluding panel featuring Raven VP, patient strategy and engagement Gunnar Esiason. Gunnar and his father Boomer Esiason spoke about Gunnar's life with Cystic Fibrosis, and how after his diagnosis the Esiason family became leading advocates for CF research and awareness, raising nearly $200 million through the Boomer Esiason Foundation.