NEW: #Vertex Pharmaceuticals is suing the gov over blocking access to #fertility preservation services for people getting #Casgevy, the first #CRISPR treatment, which treats #sicklecell & #betathalassemia

Currently, Vertex offering to help patients access these services illegal under anti-kickback laws

via @STAT
https://www.statnews.com/2024/07/15/vertex-casgevy-sickle-cell-infertility-hhs-lawsuit-fertility-preservation/

The world’s 1st gene therapy for #sicklecelldisease has been approved in the UIK. Casgevy (jointly created by #CRISPRTX & #Vertex #pharma is the first #medicine licensed using the gene editing tool #CRISPR, & offers hope to 1000's as an alternative to the treatment of arduous #bone marrow #transplants.
https://apnews.com/article/sickle-cell-gene-therapy-treatment-uk-first-9bcf7c7d8b8909fb06e137fee17c767c

"Poor people in the developing world have a right to medicine"

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/20/poor-people-in-the-developing-world-have-a-right-to-medicine

"..the Boston-based drug company Vertex is neither selling a transformative new treatment for cystic fibrosis in the developing world, nor allowing other local companies to produce it..."

We have seen this with #covid19 - #vaccines are STILL being hoarded by the West

Why is it so hard to create new types of #painrelievers?
As the #opioid crisis rages, companies are on a hunt for new, nonaddictive #pain #medicines. A new study by Boston-based biotech #Vertex may be making headway with its compound #VX548, a pill that aims to relieve pain in wake of surgery. Highest dose of compound offered greater pain relief than placebo after bunion removal or tummy tuck. That’s good news in a space that has had more than its fair share of setbacks. https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/08/11/1077750/why-is-it-so-hard-to-create-new-types-of-pain-relievers/

Multi-point Dimensionality Reduction to Improve Projection Layout Reliability

https://openreview.net/forum?id=mSDlVLfXN6