December approval decision set for first CRISPR gene editing therapy as Vertex, CRISPR report sickle cell win

Near­ly 11 years ago, sci­en­tists pro­grammed a pair of mol­e­c­u­lar scis­sors to make pre­cise cuts in DNA. That first test tube ex­per­i­ment of CRISPR gene edit­ing tech­nol­o­gy won its cre­ators a No­bel Prize, ig­nit­ed a gene edit­ing rev­o­lu­tion in life sci­ence labs, and kick-start­ed a race to de­vel­op gene-al­ter­ing med­i­cines.

Now, the fin­ish line is in sight. For the first time, a CRISPR ther­a­py is up for FDA ap­proval, Ver­tex and CRISPR Ther­a­peu­tics an­nounced Thurs­day evening.

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