Rising interest in CRISPR treatments

Last November saw the first approval of a medical treatment based on the gene editing technology Crispr, which was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It was Casgevy, a treatment for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia, that first got the thumbs up from the British authorities, and later also by the FDA.

And that seems to be only the beginning. Last year, the FDA granted no less than 14 review designations for 10 different Crispr therapies under development, according to a compilation from the analysis company GlobalData.

That is significantly more than in any previous year.

“The increase in designations awarded in recent years may be part of an enhanced effort by the FDA to promote CRISPR drugs. This record year saw six orphan drug designations, four fast track designations, two regenerative medicine advanced therapy (RMAT) designations, and a single rare pediatric disease designation and priority review awarded to 10 different CRISPR drugs, says Jasper Morley, Drugs Intelligence Analyst at GlobalData in a press release.