Özge Özkaya, PhD,  —

Researchers in Alicante, Spain, established levels of normality for hemoglobin A in newborn screening by taking into account factors such as the babies being born prematurely and their mothers having immigrated from an area of the world where the prevalence of genetics mutations causing defects in the hemoglobin gene is high.

Metformin, a common drug for type 2 diabetes could also be used to treat sickle cell anemia by increasing levels of fetal hemoglobin, found a study conducted by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Cancer and Hematology Centers.

Imara, a biotechnology company that is working towards developing new therapies against sickle cell anemia and other blood disorders, announced that the first healthy volunteer has been dosed in a Phase I clinical trial testing the safety and tolerability of their product candidate called IMR-687.