Manning Family Children's Celebrates First Sickle Cell Cure

A Q&A with Children's Dr. Ben Watkins on the life-changing gene therapy treatement NEW ORLEANS – Last week, the news went wide that Manning Family Children’s celebrated its first cured patient from sickle cell disease. Phillip Mullin is a teenager from Alexandria, Louisiana that has spent most of his life fighting sickle cell while in and out of the hospital. For years, a cure seemed a far away dream, but on Oct. 23, the 15-year-old rang the bell at Children’s. In the announcement about the good news, it was noted that Phillip is the second patient and first child to receive a groundbreaking treatment in Louisiana. Phillip was cured with the use of LYFGENIA, which the announcement noted a one-time gene therapy to treat sickle cell disease in patients 12 years of age or older with a history of vaso-occlusive events. Dr.

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