FDA slaps a clin­i­cal hold on sick­le cell IND filed for a new gene ther­a­py from Ver­tex and CRISPR Ther­a­peu­tics

The FDA has slapped a clin­i­cal hold on the IND filed by Ver­tex $VRTX and CRISPR Ther­a­peu­tics $CR­SP on a new gene ther­a­py for sick­le cell dis­ease.

The two biotechs an­nounced an al­liance on sick­le cell dis­ease late last year, co-de­vel­op­ing CTX001, which was made with CRISPR/Cas9 tech. The drug is de­signed to pro­duce high lev­els of fe­tal he­mo­glo­bin (HbF; he­mo­glo­bin F) in red blood cells.

In their state­ment, the com­pa­nies ne­glect­ed to pro­vide much de­tail, say­ing on­ly that the hold was put in place “pend­ing the res­o­lu­tion of cer­tain ques­tions that will be pro­vid­ed by the FDA as part of its re­view of the IND.”

Endpoints News

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.