India showcases CRISPR gene therapy for sickle cell disease affecting tribal communities

India's Ministry of Tribal Affairs has presented the country's first domestically developed CRISPR-based gene therapy for sickle cell disease at a workshop in New Delhi, as the government advances its goal of eliminating the condition by 2047.

The therapy, called BIRSA 101, was developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and its Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB). A formal technology transfer and collaboration agreement has been signed between CSIR-IGIB and the Serum Institute of India, enabling translation of IGIB's engineered CRISPR platform into scalable, affordable therapies for sickle cell disease and other genetic disorders, according to Industry-Asia.

BIRSA 101 works by collecting blood from patients carrying the sickle cell mutation, modifying stem cells using CRISPR gene-editing technology, and reinfusing those corrected cells to produce healthy red blood cells, addressing the disease at its genetic root. The research has been in development since 2017, according to a technical presentation delivered at the workshop by CSIR-IGIB researcher Debojyoti Chakraborty, as reported by StudyIQ.

Phase 2/3 clinical trials are expected to be completed in 2026, with regulatory approval from India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organization anticipated in 2026 or 2027. Trial participants will be drawn from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand, and will be conducted collaboratively by CSIR-IGIB, the Serum Institute of India, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi, according to Fujitsu.

Sickle cell disease affects between 15 and 20 million Indians, with the highest prevalence among tribal communities. The therapy is named after Bhagwan Birsa Munda, a 19th-century tribal freedom fighter. The research received 37.5 million rupees (approximately $390,000) in government funding, according to Fujitsu.

Posted by MedCloudInsider Editors on 05/29/2026