> Vertex set the price of Casgevy at $2.2 million > Patients must spend weeks, even months, in the hospital before and after the therapy is administered. Yoiks. So how many actual people are going to be able to get this treatment?
That's how technological progress works. The first version is expensive and not very good, so it isn't used much. But some use proves that it works, lets the kinks get worked out, and gives the makers funding and incentive to optimize the cost and quality. Give them time for a few iterations and it'll be cheap and plentiful. Just like the iPhone - the first one was super expensive, harder to get, and pretty limited. Now there's lots of cheap options and they're everywhere.