First Gene Therapy Approved for Hemophilia B + World AMR Awareness Week – Xtalks Life Science Podcast Ep. 88

In this episode, Ayesha shared news about the FDA approval of the first gene therapy for the rare blood disorder Hemophilia B. The approval was awarded to CSL Behring’s Hemgenix, a single-dose gene therapy that delivers a working copy of the gene that codes for the Factor IX protein that is deficient, or made in insufficient amounts, in patients with Hemophilia B. The therapy is now officially the world’s most expensive drug at $3.5 million per dose. Hear more about the therapy and how the high price tag of the new drug is actually lower than the cost of treating Hemophilia B patients over their lifetimes with current conventional treatments.

Ayesha also talked about World Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness Week, which is led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to improve awareness and take measures to combat the global health threat of AMR. The theme of this year’s awareness week was “Preventing AMR Together,” highlighting the need for multi-disciplinary and collective action against AMR. Ayesha spoke to experts from bioMérieux Canada and One Health to learn more about the global efforts against AMR and shared their insights in this episode.