Despite popularity, gene therapy isn’t available everywhere — or is it? 

Four gene therapy products have been approved by the FDA, and according to a new report, only five areas in the country offer all four. But what struck me looking at the above map is that even though 13 states don’t have treatment facilities that offer gene therapy, the technology has come a long way in a relatively short time. After all, the first gene therapy to be approved by the FDA — the leukemia drug Kymriah — was only approved in 2017. And many states lacking gene therapy treatment, like North Dakota, also lack other health services — such as psychiatry — and so the problem may not lie with gene therapy alone. Still, the FDA expects more than 200 applications for gene and cell therapies per year starting next year, so it remains to be seen how the above map will look as more therapies are approved.