A gene therapy based on an enhanced lipid nanoparticle (LNP) loaded with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA could be developed for the treatment of preeclampsia, according to a study in mice in which it alleviated maternal hypertension until the end of gestation and improved fetal health. Preeclampsia is a disease that affects 3% to 5% of pregnant women, who suffer from hypertension and proteinuria, elevated levels of protein in the urine, during pregnancy.
Kriya Therapeutics Inc. and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have published preclinical data for KRIYA-497, a one-time intramuscular gene therapy being developed for the treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).
Splicebio S.L. has gained IND clearance from the FDA for its lead program SB-007, a protein splicing gene therapy to address the root genetic cause of Stargardt disease.
Epileptic encephalopathy due to mutations in the STXBP1 gene, also known as genetic epilepsy, is a rare disease characterized by intellectual disability, speech and motor impairment and behavioral issues, among others, that affects 1 in every 30,000 newborns and which has no approved therapies to date.
The U.S. FDA has greenlit the first steps of Uniqure NV’s accelerated approval pathway for gene therapy AMT-130 to treat Huntington’s disease. The agency said data from the ongoing phase I/II studies compared to natural history external control are muscular enough to get the process going without having to dive into additional studies.
Voyager Therapeutics Inc.’s recent selection of a lead development candidate, VY-1706, for its tau silencing gene therapy program in Alzheimer’s disease brought renewed attention to the target, which continues to intrigue a substantial lineup of developers. Bellwether data rolled out this fall from UCB SA and Roche AG at the Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease meeting in Madrid.
The U.S. CMS has negotiated outcomes-based agreements with Bluebird Bio Inc. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. to make their costly sickle cell gene therapies the first treatments to become available through the voluntary Medicaid Cell and Gene Therapy Access Model.
Spur Therapeutics Ltd. has selected SPR-301 as lead development candidate from its gene therapy program for a genetically defined subset of Parkinson’s disease characterized by mutations in the GBA1 gene. The mutations cause a deficiency in the enzyme glucocerebrosidase (GCase), leading to the accumulation of α-synuclein and subsequent death of neuronal cells that are hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease.
Alveogene Ltd. has announced its novel inhaled gene therapy for lethal neonatal surfactant protein B (SP-B) deficiency, AVG-002, has been awarded orphan drug designation by the FDA.
RSS
