News

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded Dr. Kenneth Ataga, a $2 million grant over five years to support a prospective study in sickle cell anemia to determine biomarkers of specific cellular function changes in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Ataga, a researcher with the University of…

Researchers have found that patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) have increased risk of developing leukemia, but lower risk for breast cancer or male genital cancers. These findings resulted from a population-based study titled “Increased risk of leukemia among sickle cell disease patients in California” that was published in…

Sancilio Pharmaceuticals has completed a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating Altemia (docosahexaenoic acid) as a treatment for children aged 5 to 17 with sickle cell disease (SCD). The company expects to release the main results of the SCOT trial (NCT02973360) by the end of 2017. The study assessed…

A “National Poll of African-Americans on Sickle Cell Disease Awareness” conducted earlier this year has revealed that, while most African-Americans are familiar with sickle cell disease (SCD), only about one-third are aware that it affects people of African descent in a disproportionate way. The findings highlight the need for more…

A Phase 1 clinical trial of Imara’s new investigational drug, IMR-687, showed that it was safe and well-tolerated in healthy volunteers, paving the way for a Phase 2 trial in adults with sickle cell disease (SCD). Imara, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, plans to start a Phase 2 trial of IMR-687…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Rare Pediatric Disease designation to Altemia Soft Gelatin Capsules, developed for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD) in children. Altemia is being developed by Sancilio Pharmaceuticals as an oral, once-daily formulation for children aged 5 to 17 years who…

Over $18 million has been given to support research into how best to assist young people with sickle cell disease (SCD) moving from pediatric to adult care. The award comes from the board of governors of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Transiting to adult care can be difficult, as children…

Two pharmaceutical companies, Bioverativ and Bicycle Therapeutics, have agreed to jointly discover, develop and market novel therapies for sickle cell disease (SCD) and hemophilia. The $10 million accord seeks to identify and develop therapeutic molecules based on Bicycle’s bicyclic peptide product platform to treat rare blood disorders. This new modality combines attributes…

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 — a gene therapy candidate based on hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), or those that generate all the blood cells in…

With drug overdoses now the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., efforts are underway in many states to limit abuse and access to prescription opioids —  steps that, some say, could cause unnecessary suffering among sickle cell disease (SCD) patients who rely on these medications to treat their symptoms. “I’m seeing…