NBC’s late night show “Saturday Night Live” is no stranger to poking fun at the pharma industry, especially its advertising. However, the latest SNL biopharma skit featured Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics’ recently approved sickle cell anemia gene therapy in a different way with a holiday spoof on a “Yankee Swap” gift exchange.
Host Kate McKinnon plays an office manager who gives a surprising gift — enrollment in a Vertex and CRISPR program — to her colleague Winston, who suffers from sickle cell anemia. When he asks if it’s a new treatment, McKinnon the manager says, “It’s not a treatment, it’s a cure. The FDA just approved exa-cel this week, but there’s a two-year waiting list.”
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