Minnesota Toddler Gets World’s Most Expensive Drug, Walks for the First Time

Maddy Smith was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy but thanks to a new gene therapy called Zolgensma, Maddy is now walking. KARE 11 has been following Maddy's story and when they first met her about seven months ago she couldn't crawl, she was non-verbal, and she couldn't eat solid food.

This new gene therapy is known as the world's most expensive drug, costing $2 million for the one-time infusion and is only available for children up to the age of two. Thankfully, through insurance through the State of Minnesota, this drug was paid for. It was definitely a fight to get it paid for though, it was originally denied.

Maddy is one of the first kids in the world to receive this treatment and since she's shown so much improvement "at least 6 to 8 more Minnesota kids have received the therapy, some covered by the state, others by private insurance," reports KARE 11.

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