Cheat Codes: A Sickle Cell Podcast
Sep 16, 2026 · 37 min · 10 segments
In this special Sickle Cell Warrior Takeover of Cheat Codes, Kyle Smith and Shamonica Wiggins-Mayes sit down with Brian Goff, CEO of Agios Pharmaceuticals, for a candid conversation about the…
Kyle SmithHost
Shamonica Wiggins-MayesHostAnd like Kyle said, we are happy that commitment is a big deal for IGOs.
But another thing that IGOs speaks on a lot and we've heard IGOs spend a lot of time talking about is hemolysis.
And so from hemolysis, what have you learned from patients that convinced you that this part of disease, it deserves more attention and awareness?
Yeah, well, again, and I could talk about hemolysis in a second, but I'll just start by saying that, and you both know this very well, that sickle cell disease affects everyone differently.
And an important starting point is that there's nothing about sickle cell disease itself that is universal.
And that's an important concept to keep in mind, particularly when we start talking about the science and how it affects people.
But to go back to hemolysis itself, that is one of the common threads that tends to be – you know, a common feature across folks with sickle cell disease.
What it ultimately is, is stress caused by the disease on the red blood cell that causes premature breakdown and death of the red blood cell.
And the consequence of that is that hemoglobin, the really important transporter of oxygen around the body into tissues, is reduced and many people then will experience anemia and fatigue in particular and chronic health aspects some of which can include over the long term organ damage and unfortunately you know shortened lifespans even as we speak right now in 2026 this is this is a really important feature So hemolysis is one of the fundamental foundational aspects of sickle cell disease that we are really focused at Agios to help improve.
But again, the way we approach it is the science is really important, but it's the consequence of what it means to the patient journey that is so critically important and to not Assume that that's the same for everybody.
And that's why it's an important feature to for us to keep our sights on as we continue to develop medicines.
I know just from my own experience, I've learned a lot about hemolysis from Dr.
And almost everything I know about hemolysis, red blood cell health, and sickle cell disease comes from those two folks.
Yeah, and even with that in terms of hemolysis and you talking about how challenging this disease, sickle cell disease is in terms of actually developing medicines and treatments for, right? After working in this space for 30 plus years, would you encourage other companies to invest here? And if so, why?
And like Kyle said, we are happy that commitment is a big deal for IGOs.
But another thing that IGOs speaks on a lot and we've heard IGOs spend a lot of time talking about is hemolysis.
And so from hemolysis, what have you learned from patients that convinced you that this part of disease, it deserves more attention and awareness?
Yeah, well, again, and I could talk about hemolysis in a second, but I'll just start by saying that, and you both know this very well, that sickle cell disease affects everyone differently.
And an important starting point is that there's nothing about sickle cell disease itself that is universal.
And that's an important concept to keep in mind, particularly when we start talking about the science and how it affects people.
But to go back to hemolysis itself, that is one of the common threads that tends to be – you know, a common feature across folks with sickle cell disease.
What it ultimately is, is stress caused by the disease on the red blood cell that causes premature breakdown and death of the red blood cell.
And the consequence of that is that hemoglobin, the really important transporter of oxygen around the body into tissues, is reduced and many people then will experience anemia and fatigue in particular and chronic health aspects some of which can include over the long term organ damage and unfortunately you know shortened lifespans even as we speak right now in 2026 this is this is a really important feature So hemolysis is one of the fundamental foundational aspects of sickle cell disease that we are really focused at Agios to help improve.
But again, the way we approach it is the science is really important, but it's the consequence of what it means to the patient journey that is so critically important and to not Assume that that's the same for everybody.
And that's why it's an important feature to for us to keep our sights on as we continue to develop medicines.
I know just from my own experience, I've learned a lot about hemolysis from Dr.
And almost everything I know about hemolysis, red blood cell health, and sickle cell disease comes from those two folks.
Yeah, and even with that in terms of hemolysis and you talking about how challenging this disease, sickle cell disease is in terms of actually developing medicines and treatments for, right? After working in this space for 30 plus years, would you encourage other companies to invest here? And if so, why?
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
