The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted orphan drug status to olinciguat (IW-1701) as a potential treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD), Ironwood Pharmaceuticals announced. Evidence suggests that the symptoms of sickle cell disease may be associated with nitric oxide deficiency in the blood. Nitric oxide…
The Vodafone Americas Foundation recently announced the winners of its 10th annual Wireless Innovation Project (WIP), which awarded $600,000 in three-year grants to tackle critical issues facing the global community. The first-place prize of $300,000 was awarded to a point-of-care platform called SMART, for its remote diagnostic testing targeting…
Sancilio Pharmaceuticals is reporting that its investigational oral compound Altemia (SC411, docosahexaenoic acid) showed an ability to safely treat sickle cell disease (SCD) in a Phase 2 study. Data from the Phase 2 SCOT trial (NCT02973360) trial were given at the 2018 American Society Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (ASPHO)…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration placed a clinical hold on the investigational new drug (IND) application for CTX001, an experimental therapy for the treatment of sickle cell disease, according to a statement by CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The hold on the clinical development of CTX001 will…
As President Trump signed the recently passed Right to Try legislation into law in a White House ceremony, Jordan McLinn of Indianapolis tried twice to embrace him. The third time, 9-year-old Jordan finally got the hug he wanted — as well as a kiss on the forehead. The video of…
Loss of an important part of the antioxidant cell defense system decreases production of hemoglobin in the blood and worsens spleen damage and inflammation in a mouse model of sickle cell disease (SCD), researchers found. Findings were reported in the study, “Loss of Nrf2 function exacerbates…
A significant proportion of children with sickle cell disease (SCD) are not receiving key recommended vaccines on time or at all, according to a new study examining pneumococcal and meningococcal vaccinations among children in Michigan. The study, “Pneumococcal and Meningococcal Vaccination among Michigan Children with Sickle Cell Disease,”…
Finding treatments and potential cures for rare diseases is crucial, but so is the quality of patients’ lives — a rather nebulous term that means different things to different people. “Recently, there’s been much more of a focus on Quality of Life (QoL) issues, real-world evidence and patient-reported outcomes,” said…
Global biotechnology company MaxCyte announced the successful correction of a genetic mutation associated with sickle cell disease (SCD) in a patient’s hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), the type of cells that give rise to blood cells. The mutation was corrected in the hemoglobin gene using MaxCyte’s non-viral cell engineering…
Sickle cell trait (SCT) is not associated with an increased incidence of stroke, a study in African-American patients suggests. The study, “Association of Sickle Cell Trait With Ischemic Stroke Among African Americans: A Meta-analysis,” was published in the journal JAMA Neurology. Sickle cell trait occurs in…
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