Posts by: Jose Marques Lopes, PhD

Under a new treatment protocol, seven adults with sickle cell anemia were treated — and reportedly cured — using stem cells from donors previously seen as incompatible. The study ... Read more

April 24, 2018April 24, 2018

In-person Caregiver Education Increases Sickle Cell Trait Knowledge, Study Reports

In-person education of caregivers increases their knowledge of sickle cell trait (SCT), according to researchers. But new strategies are needed to make sure caregivers don’t forget what they learned. The ... Read more

March 13, 2018March 13, 2018

CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing Shows Potential to Treat Sickle Cell Disease, Study Reports

A gene editing technology called CRISPR/Cas9 repaired 20 to 40 percent of stem and progenitor cells obtained from sickle cell disease patients, scientists report, suggesting such an approach might ... Read more

March 6, 2018

Phase 1 Clinical Trial for Novel Sickle Cell Transplant Procedure Receives $5.74 Million

An upcoming Phase 1 clinical trial was recently awarded $5.74 million to evaluate an innovative blood stem cell transplant procedure for adults with severe sickle cell disease (SCD). The California ... Read more

January 16, 2018

FDA Grants Breakthrough Therapy Designation to Voxelotor

Voxelotor, a potential treatment for sickle cell anemia (SCA), has been given breakthrough therapy designation (BTD), Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT) recently announced. Voxelotor (previously called GBT440) is a potential ... Read more

September 7, 2017September 7, 2017

CSL Behring’s Acquisition of Calimmune May Spur New Therapies to Treat Sickle Cell Disease

New therapies to treat sickle cell disease (SCD) may receive a boost after CSL Behring‘s recent $91 million acquisition of Calimmune. CSL Behring will now develop Calimmune’s pre-clinical product, CAL-H — ... Read more

June 6, 2017June 6, 2017

New Pre-transplant Treatment Regimen Improves Survival of Kids with Sickle Cell Disease, Trial Shows

A new pre-transplant conditioning regimen remarkably improves rejection rates and survival in children with sickle cell disease (SCD), according to the results of Phase 1/2 trial (NCT00920972). The study, ... Read more

May 18, 2017May 18, 2017

New Method of Creating Healthy Stem Cells Could Potentially Improve Treatment of Sickle Cell Anemia

Researchers at New York’s Weill Cornell Medicine have discovered an innovative method of producing healthy stem cells that could significantly improve treatment of sickle cell anemia and other blood disorders. ... Read more

May 9, 2017May 9, 2017

Sickle Cell Disease and Its Toll Compared in Different Age Groups in Study

Differences in comorbidities, pain, healthcare utilization and psychosocial outcomes were addressed in three groups of sickle cell disease (SCD) patients, distinguished by their respective ages, in the Pain in ... Read more

March 14, 2017

Sickle Cell Trait Linked with Greater Risk of Developing End-Stage Kidney Disease, Study Shows

Individuals with sickle cell trait (SCT), a common hemoglobin gene variant in African-Americans, have an increased risk of developing kidney disease, new research shows. These findings may have important implications ... Read more