Sickle cell disease (SCD) and HIV have a major burden on the health of impoverished communities all over the world.

Of the 38 million people living with HIV all over the world, approximately 95% reside within developing countries, with 67% in sub-Saharan Africa, half of whom are living without any treatment.

Fifteen million babies will be born with SCD globally over the next 30 years. Of those births, 75% will occur in sub-Saharan Africa. In this region, SCD is the underlying cause of 1 in 12 newborn deaths and an estimated 50-90% of infants born with SCD in developing countries will die before their 5th birthday.

It is because of this epidemic around the world that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have formed a collaboration, with the bold goal of advancing safe, effective and durable gene-based therapies to clinical trials in the United States and relevant countries in sub-Saharan Africa within the next seven to 10 years. The ultimate goal is to scale and implement these treatments globally in areas hardest hit by these diseases.

Through this collaboration, the NIH plans to invest at least $100 million over the next four years towards gene therapies related to SCD and HIV and in return The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will match this investment with an additional $100 million towards the same goal.

Currently, due to their intrinsic complexity and cost of treatment requirements, gene based therapies are generally limited to hospitals in wealthy countries. The collaborative effort between the NIH and the Gates Foundation seeks to change that by investing in the development of curative therapies that can be delivered safely, effectively and affordably in low-resource settings.

In a news release, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins discusses the potential this agreement holds:

“This unprecedented collaboration focuses from the get-go on access, scalability and affordability of advanced gene-based strategies for sickle cell disease and HIV to make sure everybody, everywhere has the opportunity to be cured, not just those in high-income countries.”

In the same news release, Dr. Trevor Mundel, President of the Global Health Program at The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation echoes the same sentiment:

“In recent years, gene-based treatments have been groundbreaking for rare genetic disorders and infectious diseases. While these treatments are exciting, people in low- and middle-income countries do not have access to these breakthroughs. By working with the NIH and scientists across Africa, we aim to ensure these approaches will improve the lives of those most in need and bring the incredible promise of gene therapy to the world of public health.”

Similarly, CIRM and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), an institute within the NIH, have entered a landmark agreement on curing SCD. CIRM has already funded one program under this agreement and has another $27 million available to fund other potential therapies.