The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has accepted a groundbreaking patent from Dei BioPharma Ltd., marking a significant milestone in the treatment of sickle cell disease.
Dei BioPharma, a Ugandan biotechnology firm led by scientist Dr. Matthias Magoola, announced the breakthrough over the weekend that the patent was accepted on January, 26, 2026.
The development could reshape sickle cell treatment and offer new hope to millions of patients, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
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The company stated that its innovation, a new gene therapy platform, could make curative treatment far more affordable and accessible than current options. Magoola, the company's founder and chief executive, invented the technology.
Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder where red blood cells become misshapen. This leads to severe pain, infections, organ damage and reduced life expectancy. While recent gene therapies have proved curative, their multimillion-dollar costs remain out of reach for most people in low- and middle-income countries.
Dei BioPharma's approach addresses both the medical challenge and long-standing barriers to care. All humans produce fetal hemoglobin during pregnancy and early infancy, which does not cause sickling. Production typically stops about six months after birth when the body switches to adult hemoglobin. In sickle cell patients, symptoms begin once this switch occurs.
Rather than repairing faulty genes in individual patients, Dei BioPharma scientists developed a way to keep fetal hemoglobin production active.
Using CRISPR gene-editing technology, the platform targets a genetic control switch that regulates the transition. By disabling this switch, the body continues producing protective fetal hemoglobin, preventing cells from becoming distorted.
Because this genetic switch is universal, the treatment can be standardized rather than customized for each patient.
"This invention was designed from the beginning to solve not only the biology of sickle cell disease, but also the access problem," Dr.Mathias Magoola said.
"By targeting a universal genetic switch rather than the sickle mutation itself, we can develop a single, standardized treatment that works for all patients."
Existing cures often rely on bone marrow transplants or personalized therapies requiring complex laboratory processes and specialized facilities. Dei BioPharma claims its platform removes these barriers, allowing the product to be manufactured at scale, stored and distributed across various health systems.
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The company estimates this approach could reduce the cost of gene therapy by more than 95 percent. This would potentially place the treatment within reach of public health systems in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia.
The therapy could apply to all major forms of the disease, including HbSS, HbSC and sickle beta-thalassemia. Magoola noted that this opens the door for the first scalable, broadly applicable gene therapy for a single-gene disease.
Approximately 20 million people globally live with sickle cell disease, with the vast majority in sub-Saharan Africa. Dei BioPharma describes its model as similar to generic medicines, where standardized products enable lower costs and wider access.
The patent covers the gene-editing tools, delivery methods and therapeutic processes needed to activate fetal hemoglobin. The company is currently conducting preclinical studies to assess safety and effectiveness before moving to human trials.
Magoola said the breakthrough reflects an ambition to ensure cutting-edge medicines are not reserved for a small fraction of the global population.
"Our commitment has always been to make advanced biological drugs accessible to the more than 90 percent of people who currently cannot afford them," he said.
