The company that just got approval to sell the first gene-editing treatment in history, for sickle-cell disease, is already looking for an ordinary drug that could take its place.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 50-person team working “to make a pill that doesn’t do gene editing at all,” says David Altshuler, head of research at the Boston drug company.
“We’re trying to out-innovate ourselves,” he says.
