The FDA has granted orphan drug designation to Cure Rare Disease’s CRD-002, an antisense oligonucleotide therapeutic for the treatment of spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA), including spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3).

Metabolic disorders such as argininosuccinic and glutaric aciduria, methylmalonic acidemia, homocystinuria or primary hyperoxaluria require specific diets to prevent the accumulation of substances that the body can’t process. Current treatments mainly focus on managing symptoms and metabolite levels, and do not always prevent the progressive deterioration caused by mutations associated with the condition. However, emerging gene therapies hold promise for transforming these diseases by targeting their underlying causes, as presented in the oral abstract session, “Gene and cell therapy for metabolic diseases” of the ongoing 28th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) meeting in New Orleans.

Mavrix Bio has received IND clearance from the FDA for MVX-220, an investigational AAV gene therapy for the treatment of Angelman syndrome. The company expects to initiate its first-in-human study, ASCEND-AS, in the second half of this year.

Capsida Biotherapeutics Inc. has gained IND clearance from the FDA for CAP-002, its first-in-class, intravenously administered gene therapy for syntaxin-binding protein 1 developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (STXBP1-DEE). Dosing in the phase I/IIa SYNRGY trial will begin in the third quarter of this year.

Individuals with cystic fibrosis show a notably higher rate of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms than the general population. This association points to a possible role of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene, whose mutations cause cystic fibrosis, in the development of ADHD.