Current:Home > InvestWorld's first gene therapy for sickle cell and thalassemia approved in the U.K. -消息
World's first gene therapy for sickle cell and thalassemia approved in the U.K.
View
Date:2025-04-12 06:54:17
Britain's medicines regulator has authorized the world's first gene therapy treatment for sickle cell disease, in a move that could offer relief to thousands of people with the crippling disease in the U.K.
In a statement on Thursday, the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency said it approved Casgevy, the first medicine licensed using the gene editing tool CRISPR, which won its makers a Nobel Prize in 2020.
Casgevy — made by the Boston-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Europe) Ltd. and CRISPR Therapeutics — was approved by the agency for the treatment for patients with sickle cell disease and thalassemia who are 12 years old and over.
To date, bone marrow transplants, extremely arduous procedures that come with very unpleasant side effects, have been the only long-lasting treatment.
"The future of life-changing cures resides in CRISPR based (gene-editing) technology," said Dr. Helen O'Neill of University College London.
"The use of the word 'cure' in relation to sickle cell disease or thalassemia has, up until now, been incompatible," she said in a statement, calling the MHRA's approval of gene therapy "a positive moment in history."
Both sickle cell disease and thalassemia are caused by mistakes in the genes that carry hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carry oxygen.
In people with sickle cell — which is particularly common in people with African or Caribbean heritage — a genetic mutation causes the cells to become crescent-shaped, which can block blood flow and cause excruciating pain, organ damage, stroke and other problems.
In people with thalassemia, the genetic mutation can cause severe anemia. Patients typically require blood transfusions every few weeks, and injections and medicines for their entire life. Thalassemia predominantly affects people of South Asian, Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern heritage.
The new medicine, Casgevy, works by targeting the problematic gene in a patient's bone marrow stem cells so that the body can make properly functioning hemoglobin.
Patients first receive a course of chemotherapy, before doctors take stem cells from the patient's bone marrow and use genetic editing techniques in a laboratory to fix the gene. The cells are then infused back into the patient for a permanent treatment. Patients must be hospitalized at least twice — once for the collection of the stem cells and then to receive the altered cells.
Britain's regulator said its decision to authorize the gene therapy for sickle cell disease was based on a study done on 29 patients, of whom 28 reported having no severe pain problems for at least one year after being treated. In the study for thalassemia, 39 out of 42 patients who got the therapy did not need a red blood cell transfusion for at least a year afterward.
Gene therapy treatments can cost millions of dollars and experts have previously raised concerns that they could remain out of reach for the people who would benefit most.
Last year, Britain approved a gene therapy for a fatal genetic disorder that had a list price of £2.8 million ($3.5 million). England's National Health Service negotiated a significant confidential discount to make it available to eligible patients.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals said it had not yet established a price for the treatment in Britain and was working with health authorities "to secure reimbursement and access for eligible patients as quickly as possible."
In the U.S., Vertex has not released a potential price for the therapy, but a report by the nonprofit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review said prices up to around $2 million would be cost-effective. By comparison, research earlier this year showed medical expenses for current sickle cell treatments, from birth to age 65, add up to about $1.6 million for women and $1.7 million for men.
Medicines and treatments in Britain must be recommended by a government watchdog before they are made freely available to patients in the national health care system.
Casgevy is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; the agency is expected to make a decision early next month, before considering another sickle cell gene therapy.
Millions of people around the world, including about 100,000 in the U.S., have sickle cell disease. It occurs more often among people from places where malaria is or was common, like Africa and India, and is also more common in certain ethnic groups, such as people of African, Middle Eastern and Indian descent. Scientists believe being a carrier of the sickle cell trait helps protect against severe malaria.
Dr. Jon LaPook has reported on another effort to harness gene therapy to cure sickle cell disease. Watch that story in the video below:
- In:
- Sickle Cell Disease
- Chemotherapy
- Britain
- United Kingdom
- Thalassemia
- CRISPR
veryGood! (3)
Related
- The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
- Balzan Prizes recognize achievements in study of human evolution, black holes with $840,000 awards
- High interest rates mean a boom for fixed-income investments, but taxes may be a buzzkill.
- Helton teams up with organization to eliminate $10 million in medical bills for Colorado residents
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- Teen arrested after a guard shot breaking up a fight outside a New York high school football game
- Drew Barrymore to return amid writer's strike. Which other daytime talk shows will follow?
- One peril facing job-hunters? Being ghosted
- Sam Taylor
- Tiny Tech Tips: From iPhone to Nothing Phone
Ranking
- Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
- Aftershock rattles Morocco as death toll from earthquake rises to 2,100
- Sweeping study finds 1,000 cases of sexual abuse in Swiss Catholic Church since mid-20th century
- FDNY deaths from 9/11 complications are nearly equal to the number of FDNY deaths on that day
- Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
- Photos from Morocco earthquake zone show widespread devastation
- Troy Aikman, Joe Buck to make history on MNF, surpassing icons Pat Summerall and John Madden
- The Deion Effect: College GameDay, Big Noon Kickoff headed to Colorado
Recommendation
Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
She survived 9/11. Then she survived cancer four times.
Man accused of walking into FBI office, confessing to killing Boston woman in 1979
Ashton Kutcher faces backlash for clips discussing underage Hilary Duff, Olsen twins, Mila Kunis
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
'I'm drowning': Black teen cried for help as white teen tried to kill him, police say
Hawaii volcano Kilauea erupts after nearly 2-month pause
Drew Barrymore's talk show to return amid strike; WGA plans to picket outside studio