Switching globin, raising red cells

Abstract

In this issue of Blood, Meiler and colleagues report that Pomalidamide, an immunomodulatory drug, stimulates fetal hemoglobin (HbF) production in transgenic sickle mice to a degree similar to that of hydroxyurea, without cytotoxicity and with expanded marrow erythropoiesis, producing 2 therapeutic benefits that address the pathology of sickle cell disease: polymerization of sickle hemoglobin and hemolytic anemia.1 This is a highly encouraging development for a serious disease with only one approved therapeutic.