George Yancopoulos on gene editing
From American Biotech Losing to China? | Alexis Borisy & George Yancopoulos Speak Out · · MAHA Action
“The first application of CRISPR was for sickle cell disease. This is a disease we've known about for over 50 years. It's one base pair change in your genome, and it's a terrible disease. People who suffer from sickle cell disease are reliant on opioids, they have constant pain, live a terrible life. We have a chance to fix that one aberration in your genome.”
On , George Yancopoulos, Co-Founder, President, Chief Scientific Officer & Co-Chairman at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc, spoke about gene editing during American Biotech Losing to China? | Alexis Borisy & George Yancopoulos Speak Out on MAHA Action.
About George Yancopoulos
George Yancopoulos, co-founder, president, and chief scientific officer of Regeneron, has been a prominent voice in discussions about the state of American biotechnology and the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. In a November 2025 panel, Yancopoulos stated that the U.S. biotech market share has dropped from 80-85% to below 40% as China has risen, and argued that the U.S. needs to "keep accelerating biotech innovation." He also expressed skepticism about the role of artificial intelligence in drug discovery, saying that "AI cannot come up with a new idea" and is "entirely dependent on human genius." Yancopoulos advocated for the creation of a national database including every American's health records, DNA, and proteomics, which he said would "revolutionize science and biotechnology." Yancopoulos has also reflected on the pandemic response)Skip. In a 2022 appearance, he said that while vaccines and monoclonal antibodies were powerful, "we could have done a much better job logistically and operationally in terms of saving many many more lives." He has described Regeneron's antibody cocktail as a leading treatment given to millions before vaccination, and has noted that the company designed its cocktail to be resistant to viral variants by using two antibodies that do not block each other. Yancopoulos has also spoken about Regeneron's long-term approach to innovation, stating that the company was "losing money every year" for over 20 years while developing new technologies, and that "the strongest steel is forged in the fires of hell."