CRISPR Therapeutics and its partner Vertex remain on track to provide additional data from the two ongoing Phase 1/2 studies of the investigational CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing therapy CTX001 in patients with transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia and in patients with severe sickle cell disease in 2020.
“We made substantial progress in the last quarter despite the challenges posed by COVID-19. We are now progressing five cell therapy clinical trials in parallel targeting hemoglobinopathies and various cancers,” said Samarth Kulkarni, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of CRISPR Therapeutics.
New data expected in 2020 include initial data from additional patients dosed in each of the Phase 1/2 studies and longer duration follow-up data for the first patients dosed in each study. “Our CTX001 program continues to enroll patients, and we expect to report data for these programs this year,” said Kulkarni.
Screening, enrollment and mobilization in these studies is ongoing, however no additional patients are scheduled to initiate conditioning or dosing at this time due to COVID-19.
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About CTX001™
CTX001 is an investigational ex vivo CRISPR gene-edited therapy that is being evaluated for patients suffering from TDT or severe SCD in which a patient’s hematopoietic stem cells are engineered to produce high levels of fetal hemoglobin (HbF; hemoglobin F) in red blood cells. HbF is a form of the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin that is naturally present at birth and is then replaced by the adult form of hemoglobin. The elevation of HbF by CTX001 has the potential to alleviate transfusion requirements for TDT patients and painful and debilitating sickle crises for SCD patients.
CTX001 is being developed under a co-development and co-commercialization agreement between CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex.
