“In June 1989, Dr. Lap-Chee Tsui and Dr. Francis Collins, two geneticists, pinpointed the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis, the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene.”
“In the decade that followed, scientists experimented with gene therapy, a method of replacing defective genes with healthy ones, but to no avail.”
“Eventually, in 2000, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation—a non-profit started in 1955 by a group of parents who didn’t expect their children to make it to kindergarten—invested $40 million in a biotech firm in San Diego, California called Aurora BioSciences. Aurora had developed technology that could rapidly test chemical compounds on cells. The foundation wanted the company to train its sites on cystic fibrosis drugs.”
View the whole story here: https://www.sanjoseinside.com/2019/12/04/how-a-pharmaceutical-company-developed-a-breakthrough-treatment-for-cystic-fibrosis/