A year of science in motion

In life science and genomic medicine, the world’s first personalized CRISPR therapy was administered to a baby diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder. The baby’s mutation prevented him from properly digesting protein, resulting in the buildup of toxic byproducts that could cause fatal organ damage. Happily, after his groundbreaking treatment tailored to address his specific disease-causing mutation, he is home with his family and thriving.

Designing and manufacturing a CRISPR-based therapy typically takes 18 to 24 months, but Danaher companies and collaborators leapt to action, speeding up the process to just under six months. Aldevron and Integrated DNA Technologies manufactured key components of this three-part therapy at speed while maintaining high-quality and safety, and Aldevron produced the final drug product. The Danaher Business System (DBS) was deployed to coordinate the activities across multiple companies, non-profits, academic labs, and healthcare providers, resulting in a treatment delivered before severe organ damage appeared.

This story embodies what becomes possible when cutting-edge science, thoughtful collaboration, and a relentless commitment to patients converge. It's a view into a future where personalized CRISPR therapies can address the vast number of genetic diseases that have no treatments today.

Want to read more about the exciting developments in this area? Dive into the partnership between Danaher, the Innovative Genomics Institute and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative that’s building on this work to develop a “CRISPR cookbook” and learn more about the ongoing Beacon project devoted to CRISPR cures.

The science is there. The tools are there. But the ability to execute on the promise of genomic medicine requires collaboration across multiple partners. Danaher is working at the center, connecting the central nodes of this ecosystem to make gene editing a reality.

Sadik Kassim, Chief Science Officer & Chief Technology Officer, Danaher Omic Solutions and Genomic Medicines

Gene editing therapies weren’t the only medicines to get a boost from collaboration this year. The future of CAR-T therapies is also looking bright, with Danaher company Cytiva leading a new effort to develop a transformative in vivo CAR-T cell therapy platform with a radically reduced manufacturing cost. The project will be funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Engineering of Immune Cells Inside the Body (EMBODY) program.

The hurdles in CAR-T therapy for cancer include both scientific and cost challenges. This ambitious collaborative effort will address three of the most significant barriers: moving beyond blood cancers to address solid tumors, enabling in vivo therapies to avoid complexity and cost, and making therapies accessible with an aspirational target to reduce the cost of manufacturing by 10x over current standards.

This focus on rapid development and scalable manufacturing is an exciting prospect for cell therapies, helping deliver therapeutics to individual patients and creating long-term value for the healthcare system as a whole.

We are honored to collaborate on this work with world-leading academic institutions, bringing together expertise across multiple disciplines including gene editing, delivery innovation, cancer therapies, and more.

Beate Mueller-Tiemann, Chief Technology Officer, Cytiva

Alzheimer’s diagnostics are finally getting the attention they deserve, and alongside that attention has come a new understanding of the biomarkers involved in diagnosing Alzheimer’s. Like many other diseases, Alzheimer’s is undergoing a precision revolution, with more researchers and clinicians noting how just like cancer, dementias like Alzheimer’s are multifaceted diseases that demand similarly multifaceted diagnostics and treatments.

Danaher has continued to lead the charge in the future of precision diagnostics for Alzheimer’s. This year, Beckman Coulter received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for a plasma test that measures the ratio of two key biomarkers implicated in the neurodegenerative processes of Alzheimer’s disease—addressing the urgent need for earlier and more accurate detection of one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Additionally, the ongoing Beacon collaboration with Washington University in St. Louis continues to pioneer next generation of plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease by identifying and validating new diagnostic markers as well as sharpening insights on how patients progress from mild cognitive impairment to later-stage dementias.

This progress is critical not just for patient physical health, but for empowering patients to take control of their lives by putting knowledge about their health into action.

These advancements aren't just scientifically significant; they're transformative for patients. They promise testing that is less invasive, more affordable and capable of earlier detection when interventions can make the greatest impact. 

Julie Sawyer Montgomery, Executive Vice President, Danaher Diagnostics Platform