According to the World Health Organization, sickle cell anemia is considered to be the deadliest genetic disease in the world. The only possible cure is with gene therapy, which is very expensive, or a transplant.
The team led by Professor Max Gassmann and Professor Anna Bogdanova at the University of Zurich (UZH) was able to demonstrate that the well-known and inexpensive Alzheimer’s drug memantine protects the red blood cells of sickle cell patients against the dangerous sickling which is characteristic of the disease.
In 2017, the UZH Foundation was asked to fundraise for the Sickle Cell Anemia project. Sufficient funding for the project was successfully secured by March 2020. Initial studies of the tolerability and efficacy of memantine for sickle cell patients have yielded promising results.
Each year, more than 300,000 children worldwide are born with sickle cell anemia. In patients with this disease, the gene that contains the inherited information for red blood cells, or hemoglobin, is different. When the body is under stress, such as during a fever, the red blood cells form a crescent, or sickle, shape and clump together. This leads to reduced blood flow, an increased risk of thrombosis and severe pain. Memantine can help relieve these symptoms. The effect of the drug is being tested on young sickle cell anemia patients in northern Israel, where intensive research into sickle cell anemia has been carried out for many years.
«The successful collaboration with the UZH Foundation has already borne fruit: thanks to the professional fundraising, we were able to meet our funding target in full.»
Prof. Max Gassmann, head of the Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology
The financing of the project was made possible by the generous support of many foundations and private individuals. Their donations to the UZH Foundation together made up the CHF 2.5 million required to implement the project. The UZH Foundation then provided this amount to the University of Zurich for the Sickle Cell Anemia project. The UZH Foundation team organized the fundraising drive in close cooperation with Professor Max Gassmann.
The coronavirus pandemic led to some delays in the project. Now, however, the studies are almost completed, says Gassmann: «A successful conclusion is in sight. We are confident that in the future, memantine will enable us to provide relief from pain to many people around the world.»
