The United States of America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first gene editing treatment to help people that are suffering from terminal illnesses like the sickle cell disease. The 2 therapy procedures that were approved are called the Casgevy and Lyfgenia.
Casgevy is a gene editing treatment were doctors remove cells from the patient’s bone marrow, edit them, and infuse billions of modified cells back into the patient. The new cells produce a form of hemoglobin that restores normal function of the red blood cells. The report further mentions a 96% success rate amongst the 29 subjects. Lyfgenia on the other hand uses a virus to carry modified genes into the cells.
The wholesale price for the Casgevy treatment currently starts at $2.2 million USD and Lyfgenia starts at $3.1 million USD. *Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that results in an abnormality affecting the oxygen transporting hemoglobin found in red blood cells. Health problems that arise from this disorder include long term pain and bacterial infections.
