Spirits were high at the 2023 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), buoyed by the U.S. FDA approval of the first two gene therapies for sickle cell disease (SCD) the day before the conference kicked off in San Diego. The addition of gene therapy to the therapeutic arsenal for SCD is “phenomenal,” Adetola Kassim, director of the Adult Sickle Cell Disease Program and professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, told BioWorld. Nevertheless, at a Saturday, Dec. 9, session titled, “Improving Outcomes for Individuals with Sickle Cell Disease: Are We Moving the Needle?,” which Kassim chaired, the answer remained “maybe.”
Spirits were high at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), buoyed by U.S. FDA approval of the first two gene therapies for sickle cell disease (SCD) the day before the conference kicked off in San Diego.
Following a strategic transaction with Graphite Bio Inc., Kamau Therapeutics is emerging from stealth with sickle cell treatment nulabeglogene autogedtemcel (nula-cel). Kamau received an option to acquire all of Graphite’s genome editing assets, including a platform technology that integrates precision DNA repair using homology directed repair and CRISPR/Cas9, as well as the autologous CRISPR/Cas9 gene corrected CD34+ cell product nula-cel, which offers a potential cure for sickle cell disease derived from the patient's cells.
Both Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel, exa-cel) and Bluebird Bio Inc.’s Lyfgenia (lovotibeglogene autotemcel, lovo-cel) received U.S. FDA approval Dec. 8, providing 16,000 American sickle cell patients who have recurring vaso-occlusive events with access to the first cell-based gene therapies.
With a landmark U.K. approval in hand for Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel [exa-cel]) to treat sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia, Crispr Therapeutics AG and partner Vertex Therapeutics Inc. are turning their attention to the PDUFA dates set by the U.S. FDA for the treatment in both conditions.
Had it been asked to, the FDA’s Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee would have voted Oct. 31 to recommend approval of Vertex Pharmaceutical Inc. and Crispr Therapeutics AG’s exagamglogene autotemcel, or exa-cel, as a one-time transformative treatment for severe sickle cell disease in individuals 12 and older.
It’s just a discussion next week of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Crispr Therapeutics AG’s sickle cell disease (SCD) therapy, with no vote expected from the U.S. FDA’s Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. The FDA isn’t questioning the drug’s efficacy as much as it is concerned about the effects of off-target editing.
Precision Biosciences Inc. uses its proprietary Arcus platform to develop in vivo gene editing therapies and has outlined new data from its wholly owned and partnered pipeline.
Shares of Fulcrum Therapeutics Inc. shot up 38.5% on Aug. 22 following news that the U.S. FDA had lifted the clinical hold on the company’s phase Ib sickle cell disease candidate, FTX-6058.
Trinity Biotech plc. received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for its lab-based hemoglobin diagnostic system, the Premier Resolution system, which the company hopes will allow it to regain its market leading position in hemoglobin variant detection. The Premier Resolution system is an automated analyzer which quantifies fetal hemoglobin and hemoglobin A2 and detects more than 200 hemoglobin variants. The device is a modern successor to the company’s Ultra system which once held a leading position in the U.S. hemoglobin variant diagnostic market.
