Cystic fibrosis cure under threat from £6m cash crisis

Saturday, September 17, 2011 - 18:30 in Health & Medicine

Funds dry up as scientists pinpoint effective treatment for cystic fibrosisA last-ditch effort to save a £36m UK project that is developing a revolutionary treatment for cystic fibrosis is to be launched. Researchers and campaigners say they need to raise £6m in the next six weeks.If they fail, the project, which has involved more than 80 scientists working in Edinburgh, Oxford and London, will be abandoned, dashing the hopes of thousands of young people with the incurable wasting illness.The treatment perfected by the consortium's scientists involves putting genes into the lungs of patients and has passed early clinical trials. But the recession has badly damaged the income of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, the charity that has funded the 10-year programme. As a result, the funds that are needed to complete the work have dried up – just as scientists have closed in on their goal of an effective treatment."Unless we...

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