Washington (AFP)

The United States and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday a joint investment of $ 200 million over four years to develop low-cost gene therapies against the AIDS virus and sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell disease is a genetic disorder of hemoglobin. The red blood cells of infected people take the form of sickles, which causes anemia, painful crises and ultimately damage to organs, bones, tissues. It disproportionately hits people from sub-Saharan Africa. It is the most common genetic disease in France.

Gene therapy consists of replacing genes responsible for pathologies, and begins to be used for example against leukemia. But the treatments are complex and extremely expensive, which limits the scope.

The announced collaboration between the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the leading public funding agency for research in the United States, and the Gates Foundation aims to develop accessible treatments at affordable costs, explained the director of NIH , Francis Collins.

The goal is to launch clinical trials in the United States and sub-Saharan Africa within seven to ten years.

Currently, sickle cell disease is treated with blood transfusions and bone marrow transplants.

As for HIV, if antiretroviral drugs make the virus undetectable and keep patients alive for a long time, the "goal is to find a cure," said Anthony Fauci, director of the Institute of Infectious Diseases.

The researchers believe that the technical challenges for gene therapies for both diseases are close, although one is hereditary, and the other is caused by a virus.

© 2019 AFP