GBT and Sickle Cell Disease Association of America to Host 10th Annual Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Therapeutics Conference
September 08 2021 - 5:05PM
Global Blood Therapeutics, Inc. (GBT) (NASDAQ: GBT) and
the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America,
Inc. (SCDAA) will host the 10th Annual Sickle Cell
Disease (SCD) Therapeutics Conference on Wednesday,
September 15th. The virtual conference, which takes place during
National Sickle Cell Awareness Month, is open to the public and
will be livestreamed on the SCD Therapeutics Conference website and
the Facebook page of Sickle Cell Warriors, an SCD community
organization.
Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Administrator for the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, will deliver the keynote address. A
former policy official who played a key role in guiding the
Affordable Care Act (ACA) through passage and implementation, Ms.
Brooks-LaSure has decades of experience in the federal government,
on Capitol Hill, and in the private sector.
“Progress in the treatment of sickle cell disease in recent
years has provided hope and optimism for the future. But
significant gaps in access to high quality care and other barriers
continue to plague this community,” said Kim Smith-Whitley, M.D.,
executive vice president and head of research and development at
GBT. “With this annual meeting now in its 10th year, GBT is pleased
to once again partner with the SCDAA and Sickle Cell Warriors to
make this year’s conference possible – especially given the
dramatic impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on people
affected by SCD. We are inspired to convene such a diverse,
passionate group of researchers, clinicians, patients, advocacy
leaders, policy makers, industry representatives and others to
address the complex challenges this community faces.”
The event will also feature sessions on a variety of critical
topics, including the impact of the novel COVID-19 vaccines and the
experiences of the SCD community with these vaccines. The program
will include panel discussions featuring leading physicians from
around the world, patients, advocates, and policy makers, as well
as updates from GBT’s 2021 Access to Excellent Care for Sickle Cell
Patients (ACCEL) Grant recipients, who are focused on delivering
high-quality healthcare to people living with SCD.
“In the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the
long-standing inequities faced by the sickle cell community and
impacted the daily lives of so many people living with SCD. We are
privileged to unite leaders from around the world on important and
timely topics and create change for the better,” said Beverley
Francis-Gibson, M.A., president and CEO of the SCDAA. “The
conference will provide a much-needed forum for the broader SCD
community to come together and discuss the urgent needs, latest
advancements, and future possibilities as we imagine a better world
for people with sickle cell disease.”
The 10th Annual SCD Therapeutics Conference will
feature the following speakers and panelists:
- Lewis Hsu, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer, Director of the
Sickle Cell Center and Professor of Pediatrics; Pediatric
Hematologist, University of Illinois at Chicago
- Phyllis Arthur, M.B.A, Vice President, Infectious Diseases and
Emerging Science Policy; Biotechnology Innovation Organization
(BIO)
- Professor Baba Inusa, M.D., Lead Consultant Paediatric Sickle
Cell and Thalassaemia, Evelina London Children’s Hospital; Guy’s
and St Thomas NHS Trust, Women and Children’s Health; Faculty of
Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London
- Clarisse Lopes de Castro Lobo, M.D., Instituto de Hematologia
Arthur de Siqueira Cavalcanti (HEMORIO)
- Caterina P. Minniti, M.D., Professor, Departments of Medicine
and Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
- Immacolata Tartaglione, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Woman, Child
and General and Specialist Surgery, Università degli Studi della
Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”
- Derek Robertson, President, Maryland Sickle Cell Disease
Association
- James Griffin, Speaker, Advocate & Author of Breaking
Silence: Living With Sickle Cell Anemia
- Shanetta Richardson, Patient Advocate, US
- Chanel Taylor, Patient Advocate & Founder, Unsickle My
Cells, UK
- Carolyn Rowley, Ph.D., Executive Director, Cayenne Wellness
Center
- Emma Andelson, M.P.A., Program Manager, Sick Cells
- Lakiea Bailey, Ph.D., Executive Director, Sickle Cell Community
Consortium
- Velvet Brown-Watts, M.S.W., Executive Director, Supporters of
Families with Sickle Cell Disease
- Reginald French, Chief Executive Officer, The Sickle Cell
Foundation of Tennessee
Multiple companies that are developing treatments for patients
with SCD will present at the conference. They include Agios
Pharmaceuticals, Bluebird Bio, Forma Therapeutics, GBT, Imara,
Inc., and Vertex Pharmaceuticals/CRISPR Therapeutics.
For more information about the conference or to register to
attend, visit http://www.scdconference.com. Follow the conversation
on Twitter using the hashtag #SCDTC.
About Sickle Cell DiseaseSickle cell disease
(SCD) affects an estimated 100,000 people in the United
States,1 an estimated 52,000 people in Europe,2 and
millions of people throughout the world, particularly among those
whose ancestors are from sub-Saharan Africa.1 It also affects
people of Hispanic, South Asian, Southern European and Middle
Eastern ancestry.1 SCD is a lifelong inherited rare blood disorder
that impacts hemoglobin, a protein carried by red blood cells that
delivers oxygen to tissues and organs throughout the body.3 Due to
a genetic mutation, individuals with SCD form abnormal hemoglobin
known as sickle hemoglobin. Through a process called hemoglobin
polymerization, red blood cells become sickled – deoxygenated,
crescent-shaped and rigid.3-5 The sickling process causes
hemolytic anemia (low hemoglobin due to red blood cell destruction)
and blockages in capillaries and small blood vessels, which impede
the flow of blood and oxygen throughout the body. The diminished
oxygen delivery to tissues and organs can lead to life-threatening
complications, including stroke and irreversible organ
damage.4-7
About Global Blood TherapeuticsGlobal
Blood Therapeutics (GBT) is a biopharmaceutical company
dedicated to the discovery, development and delivery of
life-changing treatments that provide hope to underserved patient
communities. Founded in 2011, GBT is delivering on its goal to
transform the treatment and care of sickle cell disease (SCD), a
lifelong, devastating inherited blood disorder. The company has
introduced Oxbryta® (voxelotor) tablets, the first
FDA-approved treatment that directly inhibits sickle hemoglobin
polymerization, the root cause of red blood cell sickling in SCD.
GBT is also advancing its pipeline program in SCD with inclacumab,
a P-selectin inhibitor in Phase 3 development to address pain
crises associated with the disease, and GBT021601 (GBT601), the
company’s next-generation hemoglobin S polymerization inhibitor. In
addition, GBT’s drug discovery teams are working on new targets to
develop the next wave of potential treatments for SCD. To learn
more, please visit www.gbt.com and follow the company on
Twitter @GBT_news.
About SCDAASCDAA’s mission is: To advocate for
people affected by sickle cell conditions and empower
community-based organizations to maximize quality of life and raise
public consciousness while advancing the search for a universal
cure. Visit www.sicklecelldisease.org.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Sickle
Cell Disease
(SCD). https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/data.html.
Accessed June 3, 2019.
- European Medicines Agency.
https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/orphan-designations/eu3182125.
Accessed June 12, 2020.
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute website.
Sickle Cell
Disease. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/sickle-cell-disease.
Accessed August 5, 2019.
- Rees DC, et al. Lancet. 2010;376(9757):2018-2031.
- Kato GJ, et al. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2018;4:18010.
- Kato GJ, et al. J Clin Invest.
2017;127(3):750-760.
- Caboot JB, et al. Paediatr Respir Rev.
2014;15(1):17-23.
GBT Contact Information:Steven
Immergut (media)650.410.3258simmergut@gbt.com
Courtney
Roberts (investors)650.351.7881croberts@gbt.com
SCDAA Contact Information:Emma
Dayeday@sicklecelldisease.org
Kyri Jacobskjacobs@sicklecelldisease.org
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