Cohen Children’s Hospital LIJ recently celebrated the treatment of 21-year-old Sebastien Beauzile, a sickle cell patient, with Lyfgenia for the first time in New York state, making this a significant milestone in the Tri-state area. Lyfgenia is a cell therapy product for sickle cell disease from Bluebird Bio that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Our Clinical Apheresis Services (CAS) team also had the opportunity to perform three apheresis collections for this patient, and team members Nennette Monteverde and Yoo Hyun Choi can be seen pictured on the right.
The article and video from Northwell Health serve as a true reminder of the dedication and compassion we have for our patients each and every day.
Excerpt from the Northwell Health article:
Cohen Children’s Medical Center celebrated the “new birthday” of 21-year-old Sebastien Beauzile, the first patient in New York to receive the genetic treatment Lyfgenia to cure his sickle cell anemia, at a press conference on March 13. Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump also announced a $100,000 donation to Northwell Health to further the health system’s efforts to treat sickle cell disease.
Sickle cell disease is a family of conditions that affect a patient’s red blood cells, causing them to be misshapen. The misshapen cells can become stuck in blood vessels and block blood flow, causing many different symptoms, including extreme episodes of pain; eye, lung and kidney problems; stroke; and more.
Until now, sickle cell disease was treated with medical management, and with a bone marrow transplant in extreme cases. But that requires a compatible donor and a course of medication for months post-transplant to not reject the donor marrow in their body.
“Sickle cell is a debilitating, often-overlooked disease. But treatments like Lyfgenia are changing that,” said Jeffrey Lipton, MD, chief of the division of pediatric hematology/oncology & stem cell transplant at Cohen. “Cohen Children’s has been leading the way in genetic treatments and sickle cell therapy for years. And thanks to Ben Crump’s generous donation, we’ll continue to advance sickle cell care and cure as many people as possible.”