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Abeona Therapeutics Inc. saw its shares rise nearly 5% on Thursday after the company announced that U.S. health authorities have created a permanent billing code for its gene therapy, ZEVASKYN.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) assigned the new code, J3389, which will take effect on January 1, 2026. This code will make it easier for hospitals and treatment centers to handle insurance claims and payments when prescribing the therapy, both through public and private payers.
ZEVASKYN is a breakthrough gene therapy designed to treat painful wounds in adults and children suffering from recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), a rare and severe genetic skin disorder. It was approved by the FDA earlier this year as the first treatment specifically targeting RDEB wounds.
Abeona’s Chief Commercial Officer, Dr. Madhav Vasanthavada, said that getting a unique J-code marks a major milestone for the therapy’s commercial rollout. He added that it will make hospital adoption smoother and help more patients access the treatment.
J-codes are special identifiers used in medical billing for drugs that aren’t taken by mouth, and they help simplify the reimbursement process across healthcare systems.
Abeona Therapeutics, based in the U.S., focuses on developing advanced cell and gene therapies for rare and life-threatening diseases.