Curcumin-based gel may ease sickle cell pain, early data suggest

A low dose of Vascarta‘s VAS-101, a curcumin-based gel being developed for sickle cell disease (SCD), was well tolerated and showed early signs of reducing red blood cell sickling, pain, and fatigue when administered under the tongue in a small Phase 1 study.

The Phase 1 trial was designed to include 10 people with SCD, split between topical and sublingual treatment groups. The new analysis focused on five participants who completed the sublingual cohort. While the sublingual findings require confirmation in larger trials, they support continued clinical testing of the experimental therapy at higher and more frequent doses.