Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
One-Shot Gene Therapy Cure $665K
GlaxoSmithKline is offering a one-shot cure, called Strimveli, for a bone marrow disease called ADA-SCID, a sometimes fatal inability to fight infections. The cost: $665,000, making it the most expensive one-time treatment sold by any drug firm. (But it comes with a guarantee.)
“We do not expect to recover all of the costs of building a platform to deliver gene and cell therapy from Strimvelis alone,” says Anna Padula, a spokesperson for GSK’s rare-diseases group. “We hope that Strimvelis will be the first of a number of innovative gene-therapy medicines that we will bring to patients.” The company recognizes, she adds, “that the industry will need to adapt the way in which medicines are priced and funded.”
In reading about this, I was reminded of the cure offered to Case, the protagonist of William Gibson's 1984 novel Neuromancer. It's not a very close match, but the idea of a single treatment offering a complete cure is striking. Case had been given a mycotoxin that burned out subtle areas of his nervous system and his ability to jack into cyberspace was lost.
"It'll work, Case. You got no idea, the kind of stuff Armitage has. Like he's gonna pay these nerve boys for fixing you with th program he's giving them to tell them how to do it...
Cold steel odor. Ice caressed his spine.
Then black fire found the branching tributaries of the nerves...
He woke... "My back hurts."
That's where they replaced your fluid... some new stuff patched into your liver. The nerve stuff, I dunno. Lot of injections. They didn't have to open anything up for the main show..."
Read about other gene therapies at Gene Therapy Could Restore Hearing To The Deaf and Gene Therapy Builds Muscles Fast.
Via Technology Review.
The idea behind gene therapy is that a one-time correction to a patient’s DNA will lead to a lifelong cure. Strimvelis is the first treatment to be commercialized that lives up to the promise. But potential cures for hemophilia, a rare eye disease, and a fatal brain illness could reach the market next, and they could be similarly expensive.
"What would you say if I told you we could correct the damage, Case?" Ermitage suddenly looked to Case as if he were carved from a block of metal; inert, enormously heavy...
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/4/2016)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
Heart Patches Grown In The Lab Repair Hearts
I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
Pixel Watch 'Loss of Pulse Detection' And Philip K. Dick
'He carried on his person a triggering mechanism sensitive to his heartbeat.' - Philip K. Dick, 1965.
ErythroMer Artificial Blood
'My chemists are all working on the preparation of the artificial blood.' - Dr. David H. Keller, M.D.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?
'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.'
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
When Your Child's Best Friend Is An AI
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
Australian Authors Reject AI Training Of Llama
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
Maybe It's Too Soon To Require Autonomous Mode
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
Heat Waver - The First Ever Combo Solar Collector And Wind Turbine
'...like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
Tesla 'Fleet Response Agents' Bolster FSD Autonomy
'You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life... in his hands.'
Mori3 Autonomous Shapeshifting Robot
'My homeland is being threatened by the Replicators. Thus far all attempts to stop them have failed.'
Tesla Seeks 'Tesla Robotaxi' And 'Robobus' Trademarks Ignoring Prior Art
'A robobus had just rolled up to the curb.'
Scary Grid Safety Robots
'The ultimate horror for our paranoid culture...'
Does AI Provide A Way Forward For Talk Therapy
'And there in the next room by the sofa sat a familiar suitcase, that of his psychiatrist Dr. Smile.'
