Global Blood Therapeutics, Inc. (GBT) (NASDAQ: GBT) has
awarded approximately $450,000 to U.S. community-based
organizations and institutions as part of the company’s 2021 Access
to Excellent Care for Sickle Cell Patients (ACCEL) Grant Program.
The program, which is in its third year and increased the total
funding and number of grantees from 2020, provides support to
accelerate the development of sustainable access-to-care programs
for people living with sickle cell disease (SCD).
“Access to high-quality healthcare has been a historic barrier
for people with sickle cell disease, while community-based
organizations and institutions play an indispensable role in
driving innovative and lasting solutions,” said Jung E. Choi, chief
business and strategy officer, and head of patient advocacy and
government affairs at GBT. “We are confident that the programs
proposed by this year’s grantees can profoundly impact the health
and lives of those with sickle cell disease. These programs will
facilitate integrated care delivery, coordinate access to community
services, address racial equity and raise COVID-19 vaccine
awareness – key areas where ongoing challenges have had an outsized
impact on the sickle cell disease community.”
GBT has awarded 2021 ACCEL grants to the following
recipients:
Community-based Organizations
- Cayenne Wellness Center (Burbank, California) – Project
PLACE: Locating Persons with SCD, Assessing & Coordinating
Services & Education for a community outreach
model to improve the transition from pediatric to adult care for
SCD patients in rural areas of California
- Sick Cells (Chicago, Illinois) – Project
SCoviD for increasing COVID-19 vaccine awareness in
the SCD community across the U.S.
- Sickle Cell Community Consortium (Cumming, Georgia) –
Project PEEP: Patients Empowered and Educated Providers
for a curriculum to empower SCD patients in the U.S. to navigate
the healthcare system and educate healthcare providers about the
impact of race and healthcare disparities
- Supporters of Families with Sickle Cell Disease (Tulsa,
Oklahoma) – Oklahoma System of SCD Care for serving as a
hub connecting SCD patients and families with health and social
service resources
- The Sickle Cell Foundation of Tennessee (Memphis,
Tennessee) – Collaborative Conversations: Breaking Down Silos to
Improve Care for People with SCD for building a
collaborative community network to mitigate social determinants of
health
Institutions
- Hamilton Community Health Network (Flint, Michigan) –
Patient Navigator for Patients with SCD for a community
outreach model providing patient navigators to offer disease
education and improve communication with patients and families
- Indiana Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center (Indianapolis,
Indiana) – Sickle Cell Emergency Collaboration for an
educational initiative focused on patient empowerment and dialogue
to improve transitions from pediatric to adult care
- Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, Massachusetts)
– Integrating Palliative Care in the MGH Comprehensive Sickle Cell
Disease Treatment Center for an innovative care model to
help SCD patients better manage pain with the integration of
palliative care and community services
- University of Tennessee Health Science Center College
of Nursing (Memphis, Tennessee) –
Sickle Cell Boot Camp to Promote Nursing Excellence for an
innovative training program to increase nurses’ theoretical and
clinical expertise in the care of SCD patients, developed in
partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the
International Association of Sickle Cell Nurses and Professional
Associates
“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the long-standing
inequities faced by the sickle cell community. Programs such as
ACCEL play an important role in bridging the divide and providing
much-needed support to facilitate meaningful change,” said Titilope
Fasipe, M.D., Ph.D., a member of the ACCEL review committee and a
pediatric hematologist-oncologist at Texas Children's Hospital and
assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine. “As both a
physician who cares for people with sickle cell disease and someone
who lives with the disease, I know firsthand the significant impact
the organizations awarded a GBT ACCEL grant can make. I thank all
the applicants for their innovative proposals to improve SCD care
and look forward to following the progress of these inspiring
grantees.”
GBT launched the ACCEL program in February 2019 to fund
U.S.-based nonprofit organizations that serve patients with SCD and
their families and seek to improve their access to high-quality
healthcare. Funding was increased to approximately $450,000 in 2021
with the goal of supporting additional initiatives, including those
that address racial equity and COVID-19 vaccine awareness among the
SCD community. A panel of GBT management and external stakeholders
familiar with the issues impacting people with SCD reviewed the
proposals received this year and chose grant recipients based on
the strength of their submission, level of innovation, and greatest
potential impact to patient care.
For more information about GBT’s grants program and other
corporate giving, visit
https://www.gbt.com/our-commitment/corporate-giving.
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 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 treatments for SCD. To learn more, please
visit www.gbt.com and follow the company on
Twitter @GBT_news.
Forward-Looking StatementsCertain statements in
this press release are forward-looking within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including
statements containing the words “will,” “anticipates,” “plans,”
“believes,” “forecast,” “estimates,” “expects” and “intends,” or
similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on
GBT’s current expectations and actual results could differ
materially. Statements in this press release may include statements
that are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. GBT intends these forward-looking statements, including
statements regarding GBT’s priorities, dedication, commitment,
focus, goals, mission and vision; the ACCEL Grant Program,
including the related activities, priority areas and expectations;
safety, efficacy and mechanism of action of Oxbryta and other
product characteristics; significance of reducing hemolysis and
raising hemoglobin; commercialization, delivery, availability, use
and commercial and medical potential of Oxbryta; ongoing and
planned studies and related protocols, activities and expectations;
altering the treatment, course and care of SCD and transforming the
lives of people with SCD; potential and advancement of GBT’s
pipeline, including inclacumab and other product candidates; and
working on new targets and discovering, developing and delivering
treatments, to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for
forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the
Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act, and
GBT makes this statement for purposes of complying with those safe
harbor provisions. These forward-looking statements reflect GBT’s
current views about its plans, intentions, expectations, strategies
and prospects, which are based on the information currently
available to the company and on assumptions the company has made.
GBT can give no assurance that the plans, intentions, expectations
or strategies will be attained or achieved, and, furthermore,
actual results may differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of
risks and factors that are beyond GBT’s control, including, without
limitation, risks and uncertainties relating to the COVID-19
pandemic, including the extent and duration of the impact on GBT’s
business, including commercialization activities, regulatory
efforts, research and development, corporate development activities
and operating results, which will depend on future developments
that are highly uncertain and cannot be accurately predicted, such
as the ultimate duration of the pandemic, travel restrictions,
quarantines, social distancing and business closure requirements in
the U.S. and in other countries, and the effectiveness of
actions taken globally to contain and treat the disease; the risks
that GBT is continuing to establish its commercialization
capabilities and may not be able to successfully commercialize
Oxbryta; risks associated with GBT’s dependence on third parties
for development, manufacture, distribution and commercialization
activities related to Oxbryta; government and third-party payor
actions, including those relating to reimbursement and pricing;
risks and uncertainties relating to competitive products and other
changes that may limit demand for Oxbryta; the risks regulatory
authorities may require additional studies or data to support
continued commercialization of Oxbryta; the risks that drug-related
adverse events may be observed during commercialization or clinical
development; data and results may not meet regulatory requirements
or otherwise be sufficient for further development, regulatory
review or approval; compliance with obligations under the Pharmakon
loan; and the timing and progress of GBT’s collaborative, license
and distribution agreements; along with those risks set forth in
GBT’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2020, and in GBT’s most recent Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, as well as discussions of potential risks,
uncertainties and other important factors in GBT’s subsequent
filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Except as required by law, GBT assumes no obligation to update
publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
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.
Contact:Steven
Immergut (media)650-410-3258simmergut@gbt.com
Courtney
Roberts (investors)650-351-7881croberts@gbt.com
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