(Your name here) gene therapy: new fund-raising gambit for family with rare disease

With the drug industry’s waning interest in gene therapy, a family tries a staple of philanthropy: honorary naming.

In her years-long effort to develop a gene therapy for her 7-year-old son Maxwell, Amber Freed has tried most of the usual fundraising tricks: A foundation, GoFundMe campaigns, lemonade stands, golf tournaments. Now, she’s trying something more unorthodox.

Freed is promising to name Maxwell’s treatment after the highest-bidding donor. The price, she hopes, is just $1 million. 

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