A teenager walked out of Hackensack Meridian Health Hackensack University Medical Center, (HUMC), the first patient successfully treated with Lyfgenia, a newly approved gene therapy for sickle cell disease (SCD).
Marking a milestone in curative care, Gerald Quartey, 18, was treated with Lyfgenia at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital, located at HUMC in Hackensack, New Jersey.
He is the first patient at HMH HUMC to complete the federally approved Lyfgenia therapy since its FDA authorization in December 2023, the hospital said in a statement last week.
An inherited blood disorder, Gerald’s mother Evelyn Quartey carries the sickle cell trait, as did her ex-husband and oldest son, Emmanuel, who died of the disease 16 years ago when he was 7. One in 13 African Americans carry the sickle cell trait and 1 in 365 are born with the disease—more than any other ethnic group in the U.S.
SCD By The Numbers
Lyfgenia, formerly known as LentiGlobin, is among the most expensive remedies in U.S. history, with a list price of $3.1 million for the one-time treatment, plus the additional costs of other required procedures, including chemotherapy before the treatment. The FDA approved it in December 2023 for patients aged 12 and older.
This is not just a physical disease — it impacts every part of a patient’s life and family,” said Dr. Stacey Rifkin-Zenenberg, DO, FAAP, FAAHPM, a pediatric hematologist/oncologist and a lead investigator in clinical trials for curative sickle cell treatments…