[In Depth] Cystic fibrosis foundation opens drug discovery lab
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is once again breaking new ground. In 2000, with little beyond symptomatic relief available for the inherited, life-threatening condition, the Bethesda, Maryland–based foundation hired a biotech company to develop more effective treatments. The move, unprecedented for a disease advocacy organization, paid off in two new drugs, the first to target the molecular root of the disease. But there is still no cure, and cystic fibrosis patients continue to die—467 in the United States alone in 2014. So on 19 September, the foundation is setting another precedent by officially opening its own independent laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts, to speed drug development, funded primarily from the success of the two drugs it helped bring to fruition. Author: Bijal P. Trivedi