The approval of two gene therapies to treat sickle cell disease has given hope to patients who suffer from the debilitating disease, which overwhelmingly affects Black people and people of color. Sickle cell has forced him to leave his job and at times taken him away from his family. Still, he's hesitant to try the new one-time gene therapies because they require months of intensive medical preparation, including chemotherapy, to prepare patients' bone marrow stem cells for extraction and gene editing. Vertex Pharmaceuticals ' gene therapy Casgevy lists for $2.2 million, while Bluebird Bio 's treatment Lyfgenia lists for $3.1 million. Kanter said it will take time to ramp up capacity and to set up facilities across the country to treat patients at scale.

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Persons: Michael Goodwin, Goodwin, I've, I'm, he's, …, Goodwin's hesitancy, Julie Kanter, Kanter Organizations: Health, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, University of Alabama, National Alliance of Sickle Cell Centers, for Disease Control, National Alliance of Sickle Cell Locations: Birmingham