News

Orna, Vertex partner on gene-editing therapies for SCD, TDT

Orna Therapeutics is partnering with Vertex Pharmaceuticals to develop gene-editing therapies for people with sickle cell disease (SCD) and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia (TDT). The three-year collaboration will leverage Orna’s proprietary lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery system. LNPs are tiny vesicles made up of fatty molecules that can be used…

Newborn sickle cell screening program aids outcomes for children

A newborn screening program in Catalonia improved outcomes for children with sickle cell disease (SCD), with patients being diagnosed earlier and having lower rates of major disease complications. “The data presented justify screening in countries where it has not yet been implemented, as it reduces patient morbidity and…

Mitapivat granted orphan drug status in EU for SCD

The European Commission has granted orphan medicinal product status to mitapivat, Agios Pharmaceuticals’ oral investigational therapy for sickle cell disease (SCD). This designation is granted to treatments for rare diseases, or those affecting fewer than five in 10,000 people in the European Union, that have the potential…

SCD patients free of VOEs after treatment with gene-editing therapy

Nearly all the patients with severe sickle cell disease (SCD) who were treated with renizgamglogene autogedtemcel (reni-cel) remained free of vaso-occlusive events (VOEs) for up to two years, new data from the Phase 1/2/3 RUBY  clinical trial shows. The treatment also increased total hemoglobin levels and was well tolerated,…

Etavopivat may reduce VOC rate, increase hemoglobin in SCD

Etavopivat, Novo Nordisk’s investigational oral therapy for sickle cell disease (SCD), may reduce the incidence of vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs) and increase hemoglobin levels. That’s according to data from the phase 2 part of the Phase 2/3 HIBISCUS trial (NCT04624659), which is assessing the treatment’s safety and…

Most SCD patients given Lyfgenia in trials stay free of VOEs: New data

The vast majority of people with sickle cell disease (SCD) who received the now-approved gene therapy Lyfgenia (lovotibeglogene autotemcel) in clinical trials have been free from vaso-occlusive events — simply called VOEs — in the years following treatment. That’s according to new data that Lyfgenia’s developer Bluebird…