1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,840 Speaker 1: Since you're a subscriber to this Bloomberg podcast, we thought 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:07,320 Speaker 1: you'd be interested in a six episode sponsored podcast called 3 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: Targeting the Toughest Diseases, produced by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Bloomberg 4 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:17,640 Speaker 1: Media Studios. It explores the innovative tools, methods, and unique 5 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:22,479 Speaker 1: philosophy Vertex Pharmaceuticals is using to search for treatments for 6 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: some of humanity's most challenging diseases. Here's a recent episode, 7 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: and it's like. 8 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 2: If someone grabs your body and twists in the opposite 9 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:40,159 Speaker 2: direction with each hand, it's like you can feel the 10 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 2: pressure in your bones and you can just feel every 11 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 2: part of your body is hurting. 12 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 3: Twenty years ago, during her sophomore year in college, Terry 13 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 3: Booker was hit with the worst pain of her life. 14 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 2: My legs were burning in then it just went up 15 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 2: throughout my whole entire body to the point where I 16 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 2: was unconscious and I was put on life support. I 17 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 2: wasn't able to breathe on my own. They told my 18 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 2: mom I had kidney failure, I had lung failure. 19 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,919 Speaker 3: There was no clear path to treatment for her, just uncertainty. 20 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 2: They said, you just prayed because we don't know what's 21 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 2: going to happen to her. 22 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 3: What happened was she got better for a while, but 23 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 3: then the pain returned and she was back in the 24 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 3: emergency room. Her recurring visits to the er seeking relief 25 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,039 Speaker 3: from the pain revealed a second problem, not a medical one, 26 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 3: a societal one. Terry is black, and as an African 27 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 3: American woman seeking pay meds, she was presumed to be 28 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,080 Speaker 3: a drug addict and her medical issues were ignored. 29 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 2: It is infuriating because when you go into the er, 30 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 2: you're expecting to receive help. You're expecting to be treated 31 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 2: as a patient the need of something, not treated as 32 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 2: someone who is wanting to get their next high. 33 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 3: Hi. I'm Jordan Gospore. I'm a member of the University 34 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 3: of Southern California's Center for Health Journalism. This is Targeting 35 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 3: the Toughest Diseases a podcast produced by Bloomberg Media Studios 36 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 3: and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. In this series, we look at some 37 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,960 Speaker 3: of humanity's most challenging diseases and how Vertex, a Boston 38 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 3: based biotech company, is using innovative tools, methods, and a 39 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 3: unique philosophy to search for treatments and cures. Today, we're 40 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 3: looking at. Sickle cell disease a blood disorder which can 41 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:53,519 Speaker 3: cause organ failure, stroke, and even death. It's a disease 42 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,680 Speaker 3: that affects roughly one hundred thousand Americans, including Terry Booker. 43 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 3: Sickle cell disease is not something you catch. It's a 44 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 3: genetic condition you're born with. Often babies are diagnosed before 45 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 3: they're even born. Terry was an exception. She didn't know 46 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 3: she had it until she was eleven. 47 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 2: They pricked my finger and I remember them putting it 48 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,639 Speaker 2: under a microscope, and when they had it under a microscope, 49 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 2: all these people were rushing over and I remember this 50 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:33,840 Speaker 2: so vividly, and they were like, oh, come here, come, Look. 51 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 3: Terry was in fifth grade and her mam had taken 52 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 3: her to the doctors because she had been complaining of pain. 53 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 2: And I'm like okay, and they say you see all 54 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 2: these little funny shaped cells and I'm like yeah. They're like, yeah, 55 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 2: that's sickle cell and I said okay, and I'm like, 56 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:52,119 Speaker 2: well what does that mean. 57 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 3: Sickle cell disease, or sickle cell anemia, as it's often called, 58 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 3: affects red blood cells. Those are the cells that carry 59 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 3: oxygen to all the tissues in our bodies. Normally, our 60 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 3: red blood cells are soft and shaped like a doughnut, 61 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 3: so they can squeeze through even the smallest of blood vessels. 62 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 3: But sickle cell disease changes them. Specifically, it causes the 63 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 3: hemoglobin proteins inside the red blood cells to change their structure. 64 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 3: Instead of being donut shaped, they become curved like a 65 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 3: cresset moon, or, as the name implies, like a sickle. 66 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:37,280 Speaker 3: These odd shaped cells are also hard and sticky, which 67 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,840 Speaker 3: means sometimes they can't flow smoothly through blood vessels, and 68 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 3: when that happens, they start piling up like cars on 69 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 3: a busy highway, making it really hard, if not impossible, 70 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 3: for oxygen to reach where it needs to go. It's 71 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:54,280 Speaker 3: that lack of oxygen to tissues that causes the stabbing pain. 72 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 3: That's the medical side of the disease, but as Terry 73 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:03,720 Speaker 3: mentioned earlier, there's also a societal component. 74 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:08,320 Speaker 4: To address circle cell disease, we also have to address 75 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 4: the fundamental issues that relate to systemic racism and how 76 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 4: it impacts on assets to care. 77 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,040 Speaker 3: That's doctor Isaac Odame. He studies the ways racism and 78 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 3: medical care intersect when it comes to sickle cell disease. 79 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 3: He's the medical director of the Global Sickle Cell Disease 80 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 3: Network at the Center for Global Child Health. Doctor Odame 81 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:35,279 Speaker 3: grew up in West Africa. 82 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 4: Psyco cell disease was something that I was very familiar with. 83 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 4: Not only did I have this some family members who 84 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 4: had children with psycosol disease, but some classmates and schoolmates 85 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 4: who also lived with the condition. So I was exposed 86 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,239 Speaker 4: very early to the ravages of this disease. 87 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 3: The first documented case of psycle cell anemia in America 88 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 3: was in nineteen ten, just over a century ago, but 89 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:04,479 Speaker 3: its history dates back thousands of years. 90 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,480 Speaker 4: Sucer cell disease has been known for centuries in parts 91 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 4: of Africa, and if you go into the oral tradition, 92 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 4: they did have descriptions of the disease which typified the 93 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 4: chronic and intercurrent as creating pain associative of the disease. 94 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 3: Oddly enough, the mutation that changes the cell shapes was 95 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 3: once an evolutionary advantage protecting against malaria. 96 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 4: It predominantly affects people of African descent because malaria is 97 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:42,680 Speaker 4: very endemic in Africa. It occurs in people of Indian descent, 98 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 4: Mediterranean descent, and parts of the Middle East Arabian Peninsula, 99 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:51,480 Speaker 4: and when you look at the common link between all 100 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 4: these areas is malaria anddemicity. So it was a survival 101 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:01,479 Speaker 4: advantage it provided against malaria, and the percentages of people 102 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 4: with traits in the population will rise over time. 103 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 3: Having sickle cell trait is actually quite common in African populations. 104 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 3: It evolved over time because it prevents the development and 105 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 3: spreading of malaria. That historical context explains why the majority 106 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 3: of sickle cell patients in the United States are African Americans. 107 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 3: That means sickle cell care provides a clear example of 108 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 3: the racial inequities and disparities in the medical system. That 109 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 3: includes access to care and quality of care, both of 110 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 3: which are lower for African Americans. Doctor Odami is hopeful 111 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,559 Speaker 3: that sickle cell treatments in development will not just treat 112 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 3: the disease, but will address those other complex issues as well. 113 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 4: I think more and more the patients are becoming more empowered, 114 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 4: and I think they call themselves warriors, which is the 115 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 4: appropriate term. They're not only dealing with the ravages of 116 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 4: the disease, but they're also having to fight a system 117 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:05,440 Speaker 4: that doesn't recognize their needs appropriately, and so the warriors 118 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 4: are beginning to speak out aloud. The system is beginning 119 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 4: to respond. 120 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 3: Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a leader in that response. 121 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,680 Speaker 5: For it to actually help people's lives, it has to 122 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 5: work for them and it has to work for society. 123 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 3: That's doctor David Altcheler, the chief scientific officer at Vertex. 124 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 3: They have a unique approach to choosing the diseases they target. 125 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 5: Vertex has decided to focus on a set of diseases 126 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 5: where we see great unmet need, where we see the 127 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 5: human biology is clear, and we feel that we have 128 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 5: the technology, the insights, the wherewithal to make a difference. 129 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,840 Speaker 3: When it comes to Vertex's sickle cell program, Doctor William 130 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 3: Hobbs is in charge of clinical development. 131 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 6: You know, I started in medicine being interested in hematology 132 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:58,080 Speaker 6: and sickle cell disease in particular, mainly from a research standpoint, 133 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 6: and that was because disease has long been considered a 134 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,960 Speaker 6: disease where the underlying cause of disease could be targeted, 135 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 6: if innovative approaches could be identified, and so I really 136 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 6: came at it from this scientific point of view, and 137 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 6: then along the way I started to meet sickle cell 138 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 6: disease patients and their families coordinate their care and realized 139 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 6: there was really a lot more to it than a 140 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 6: just a scientific question. And early on in my academic 141 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 6: career as a physician scientist, I started an adult sickle 142 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:36,280 Speaker 6: cell disease treatment center, and I still remember this. One 143 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 6: of the first patients that I started seeing was a 144 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 6: woman who had long standing and severe disease, and at 145 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 6: her first clinic visit with me, as she walked in, 146 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:50,560 Speaker 6: sat down and said, Hi, doctor Hobbs, I've just got 147 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 6: to know one thing, and that is if I ever 148 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:57,679 Speaker 6: need you, if I'm in an emergency room or a hospital, 149 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:00,439 Speaker 6: it's two in the morning, it's a night, it's a weekend, 150 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 6: I just need to know that you're there on the 151 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 6: other end of the phone twenty four hours a day, 152 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:07,320 Speaker 6: seven days a week, whenever I need you, because if 153 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 6: you're not, then there's no reason for me to be here. 154 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:14,840 Speaker 6: And it was that awareness that I realized at that 155 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 6: point that if you're going to take care of patients 156 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:19,440 Speaker 6: living with sickle cell disease, that you really need to 157 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:20,160 Speaker 6: be all in. 158 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 3: That's a big ask. 159 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:25,480 Speaker 6: It was a big ass but you know, it's actually 160 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:27,800 Speaker 6: a fair ask. And I think if you look at 161 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 6: the history of how sickle cell disease patients have generally 162 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:34,080 Speaker 6: been treated by the medical system. I think sickle cell 163 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 6: patients aren't asking for anything unique or above and beyond 164 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 6: or special. They're really asking for equitable care and what 165 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 6: we would offer to anyone else with the chronic severe disease. 166 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 3: So what treatment options are available for patients with sickle 167 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 3: cell disease? 168 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,560 Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, the causal biology of sickle cell disease 169 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 6: has been known for many years, but for a long time, 170 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 6: the only therapies available were able to reduce, but not 171 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 6: really eliminate complications of disease in some but not all patients. 172 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:08,319 Speaker 6: And we've come a long way in the last few years, 173 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 6: but there's still a lot of work yet to be done. 174 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 6: And I often think about the sickle cell disease patients 175 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 6: that I've cared for over the years, knowing that they 176 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,760 Speaker 6: were in desperate need of new treatment options, and so, 177 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:24,960 Speaker 6: you know, we continue to look at multiple angles and 178 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 6: innovative options with the goal of treating the underlying cause 179 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 6: of the disease. 180 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:34,160 Speaker 3: I'm curious, from Vertex's point of view, why has Vertex 181 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:37,239 Speaker 3: decided to invest so heavily in R and D specifically 182 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 3: with sickle cell. 183 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:42,679 Speaker 6: For the most part, sickle cell disease has been largely 184 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 6: ignored by the pharmaceutical industry for a long time, and 185 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,839 Speaker 6: I think there's always historically been a perception that it's 186 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:53,240 Speaker 6: a very difficult disease to go into from a commercial 187 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:57,560 Speaker 6: and marketing standpoint. However, if one has an approach that's 188 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 6: based on solid biology and reckon is the unmet need 189 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:04,120 Speaker 6: that exists in sickle cell disease, where there's millions of 190 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,760 Speaker 6: patients waiting worldwide, it becomes very compelling to do it. 191 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:11,440 Speaker 6: And so this is really about patients. It's understanding the 192 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:15,440 Speaker 6: medical need, it's understanding the causal biology and then innovating 193 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,760 Speaker 6: on treatment approaches, which is what we ad Vertex do. 194 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:21,960 Speaker 6: And you could say that it's this is in our DNA. 195 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,319 Speaker 3: Sickle cell isn't a new disease. There's been a lot 196 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:27,680 Speaker 3: of work done and a lot of innovation. What is 197 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:30,439 Speaker 3: VerTech bringing to this that's new. 198 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 6: Our aim is to investigate multiple different types of approaches 199 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 6: that can give us the best opportunities to hopefully treat 200 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:43,560 Speaker 6: the causal biology of sickle cell disease for as many 201 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 6: patients as possible. Whenever you do something like that, there 202 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:49,840 Speaker 6: are a number of unknown questions that have to be answered, 203 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 6: both scientific and medical, and we're learning to understand what 204 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 6: all of those are. And I think what we're also 205 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 6: understanding is that for diseases like sickle cell disease, where 206 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:02,040 Speaker 6: there's such a huge need for treatment options, that serial 207 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 6: innovation is required. And I think this is a focus 208 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 6: for us to continue to innovate, because, as we all know, 209 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:11,560 Speaker 6: technology doesn't stand still, and so neither should we. 210 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 3: That's the approach philosophically, but what does it actually look 211 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:18,440 Speaker 3: like when you put it into practice. 212 00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 6: We've learned a lot from natural history studies and a 213 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:24,240 Speaker 6: lot of other data about how we hope to be 214 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 6: able to target causal biology with the aim of treating 215 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:30,679 Speaker 6: the effects of sickle cell disease. So for Vertex, it 216 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 6: really begins with a deep scientific insight into causal biology 217 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:39,439 Speaker 6: and then serially innovating using all available tools and modalities 218 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:44,640 Speaker 6: to identify potential treatment options. And so it's essentially identifying 219 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 6: the right tool for the job. And one of the 220 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,080 Speaker 6: things that's unique about Vertex and the approach is just 221 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 6: that it's so completely focused on the patient and what 222 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 6: the potential treatment outcomes could be. And so the focuses 223 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,160 Speaker 6: really have we identified and cracked the right science that 224 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 6: can translate into something that could be meaningful for patients. 225 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 6: So it's the goal is a high bar, and we 226 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 6: do that relentlessly. We do it very aggressively, and we 227 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:14,320 Speaker 6: constantly strive to out innovate even ourselves within our own 228 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 6: programs here, and that's how we do science and develop medicines. 229 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 3: The research, the testing, and the potential approvals are moving 230 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 3: forward as quickly as possible, and in the meantime, Terry 231 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:35,520 Speaker 3: Booker is just trying to live her best life. 232 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 2: I exercise, I hang out with my kat Lewis, who 233 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 2: I love and who he always knows when it's something 234 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 2: wrong because he'll stay under me a little bit longer 235 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 2: or a little bit more. And I cook often. I 236 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 2: cook most of my meals. And when I say I 237 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 2: cook every day, I cook every day. And I pray. 238 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 3: What she's praying for ultimately is a cure. Terry says, 239 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 3: until that happens, she'll continue to keep the faith. 240 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 2: My faith has grown so much through this process because 241 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 2: I feel like as a human, I feel like it's 242 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:17,120 Speaker 2: no way I could be going through these things. I 243 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 2: should be in a whole crying somewhere. 244 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 7: So our pain is real and we cope and we 245 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 7: do what we have to do. 246 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 2: To try to live a quote unquote normal life. 247 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 7: But our pain is real. And when people understand that, 248 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 7: I feel like you can understand a sickle cell patient. 249 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 3: This is targeting the toughest diseases. A podcast from Bloomberg 250 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 3: Media Studios and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. If you like what you hear, 251 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:05,240 Speaker 3: subscribe and leave us a review. I'm Jordan Gospore. Thanks 252 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 3: for listening.