Novartis and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation collaborate on therapy for sickle cell disease

Novartis says it signed a grant agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fund the development of accessible single use gene therapies to cure sickle cell disease (SCD). Novartis says the initiative seeks to address disparity in access to treatments and prioritize populations and regions that are most severely affected by SCD, a hereditary blood disease that reduces the ability of red blood cells to transport oxygen and can be fatal. Roughly 300,000 people worldwide are born with the condition each year. The highest number of cases occur in Sub-Saharan Africa.