New hope for those living with Sickle Cell Disease thanks to experimental gene treatment

ATLANTA — There’s new hope for those living with Sickle Cell Disease thanks to a unique new treatment approved by the U.S. government.

The treatment is a gene cell therapy recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

For the first time, we’re seeing results.

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For Victoria Gray, the new treatment helps her and makes her want to inspire others living with the disease.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based in Atlanta, says more than 90% of patients born with the blood illness are African American.

Now, for patients that can fight off the disease into adulthood, there may be a sanctuary of better health.

Sickle Cell Disease can cause a number of health complications, according to the CDC.

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For Gray, it impacts everyday activities.

“In my case, it induces severe pain and this takes away your ability to do regular things like hold cups or walk,” Gray said.

She’s had to overcome some long odds. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, one in ever 365 African American babies are born with Sickle Cell Disease.

The condition causes red blood cells, which carry life-giving oxygen through the body, the be misshapen, virtually useless, and bringing the person with those misshapen cells immense pain.

“It’s severe pain, it drops your oxygen levels, you have trouble breathing,” Gray said.

Now, Gray is undergoing a unique treatment to cure those symptoms.

In 2023, the FDA approved the first cell-based gene therapies that target the flawed DNA in blood stem cells. Then they go back into the pa tient, but the treatment isn’t without risk.

“July 2, I received what I like to call my super cells,” Gray said. “I received one transfusion while waiting, because I didn’t have an immune system.”

For patients like Gray, there’s still care needed after treatment, whether with experimental therapy or for other care management procedures.

That’s where the Sickle Cell Sanctuary comes in.

Tabatha McGee, the Executive Director, hopes to bless sickle cell patients with the care they need.

“They have not been taken care of by urgent care, they have felt not heard, not seen,” McGee said. “Inside of the sanctuary, we have holistic services, mental health counseling and therapies, nutrition and exercise counseling.”

Gray hopes to take the blessing of her super cells and turn it into a super blessing for others.

“I wanna be that light that I needed when I was going through,” Gray said.

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