At a cost of $1.4 million per patient, Glybera will be used to treat a rare genetic disorder that clogs the blood with fat. After years of development, gene therapy is finally arriving. But as to who will be able to pay for it, well, that's another issue.

Image: An operator installs a chromatography column to purify the gene therapy drug Glybera at Dutch biotech company uniQure in Amsterdam. (Reuters/Michael Kooren)