First-Ever Gene Editing Therapies Approved

Two groundbreaking gene-editing therapies that have the potential to cure sickle cell disease (SCD) were approved by federal regulators on Friday, with one treatment marking the first time CRISPR has received approval for treating patients. Lyfgenia from Bluebird Bio and Casgevy, developed through a partnership between Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics, each received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Friday.

Up until now, there has only been one viable curative treatment for SCD, a bone marrow transplant. Both new treatments involve taking a patient’s owns stem cells and altering them to produce red blood cells that don’t become sickle shaped. Read more from The Hill here.