> Vertex set the price of Casgevy at $2.2 million
> Patients must spend weeks, even months, in the hospital before and after the therapy is administered.
Yoiks. So how many actual people are going to be able to get this treatment?
FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease
21–30 of 228 posts
Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
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What genes do you think we should be testing for and which ones do you think are severe enough that you parents with those genes shouldn't have children? Almost everyone has some sort of gene that isn't great. They might have a family history of Alzheimer's, maybe a family history or some sort of cancer, or bipolar disorder, or any other of 100 different serious illnesses. Humans would go extinct if we only allowed t…
I doubt this. If majority of population had severe incurable diseases then humanity wouldn't survive, and healthcare would collapse. I think (sorry, no statistics) that majority of population are healthy enough to do hard physical work.
Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease
#23Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease
#24[flagged]
If you're interested in this, check out Bryan Johnson and Blueprint.
Yeah I've read about him. It sounds at face value that a lot of what hes doing cant hurt, but its really not a solution to aging. And he still looks old. This is really not equivalent to gene editing for radical body change.
Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease
#25Ohalo (the company Dave Friedberg is now CEO of) recently got approval for a potato edited by CRISPR:
> Ohalo had two RSRs under consideration this year for its potato, one which focuses on higher concentrations of beta carotene – enhancing the overall health and nutrition value of the potato – and another which results in reduced glucose and fructose content in the potato, which, according to Ohalo, will reduce the adverse side effects that lead to significant spoilage during cold storage of potatoes.
https://thespoon.tech/gene-edited-food-startup-ohalo-emerges...
Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease
#26> Vertex set the price of Casgevy at $2.2 million > Patients must spend weeks, even months, in the hospital before and after the therapy is administered. Yoiks. So how many actual people are going to be able to get this treatment?
Indeed. The good news is, it actually turns out to be about the same or cheaper than ongoing treatment of a untreated sickle cell:
"""Each treatment is an individualized “one-off” treatment. For this reason, a single treatment for a single patient is expensive. At present it is estimated that in the UK treatment will cost £1 million or more. In the US the estimated cost is $2 million.
That may seem prohibitive, but we need to consider the overall cost-effectiveness of the treatment, which means comparing the cost of treatment to the cost of managing each disease without the treatment. Sickle cell patient require frequent hospitalization, which can be very expensive. One analysis found that Casgevy can be cost effective at £1.5 million or $1.9 million. This is in range of the estimated cost. Also, the longer the treatment benefits last, the more cost effective the treatment becomes. A lifetime of transfusions or hospital admissions adds up."""
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/first-crispr-treatment-appr...
Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're going to want to avoid using language straight out of GATTACA if you want to have a real conversation on this topic.
We voluntarily did DNA tests on both of us to rule out any parental defects, as well as tests in utero to see if there were issues. Luckily there were none, but we had some discussions on what we might do. It seems reasonable and responsible to perform these tests to be informed on your major life choices.
It seems reasonable from an informed person choice perspective, but (imho) rather uncomfortable as a government mandated breeding incentives program.
If you don't mind sharing, what was the (rough) cost to you for the testing?
Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease
#28How do the edited genes replace the body's genes?
Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease
#29> Vertex set the price of Casgevy at $2.2 million > Patients must spend weeks, even months, in the hospital before and after the therapy is administered. Yoiks. So how many actual people are going to be able to get this treatment?
This is Day 1 so the price and how well it works today is almost certainly the worst it will ever be. Insurance will likely cover the cost. It's a very bad, painful, and outright deadly genetic mutation and $2.2 million is practically nothing compared to doubling someone's lifespan or giving them an extra 10 years.
More info I found relevant regarding cost for typical treatment and out of pocket estimated costs: https://www.hematology.org/newsroom/press-releases/2022/the-...
Re: FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're interested in this, check out Bryan Johnson and Blueprint.
Why anyone would be interested by a charlatan?
He primarily focuses on sleep, nutrition, and exercise as measurable methods to reduce the speed of aging. Not certain how that makes him a charlatan.