Gene Transfer News and Research

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Gene Transfer is the insertion of genetic material into a cell.

Pain Therapeutics reports net loss of $1.0 million for first-quarter 2010

Pain Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, today reported first quarter 2010 financial results. Net loss for Q1 2010 was $1.0 million, or $0.02 per share, compared to a net loss of $1.8 million, or $0.04 per share, for Q1 2009.

29 Apr 2010

New gene therapy to restore retinal cone function and day vision

Veterinary ophthalmology researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have used gene therapy to restore retinal cone function and day vision in two canine models of congenital achromatopsia, also called rod monochromacy or total color blindness.

22 Apr 2010

Researchers commence Phase 2 research study to test CERE-110 for AD

Researchers at Banner Sun Health Research Institute are about to start the first Phase 2 research study to test a gene transfer agent for Alzheimer's disease. AD is a degenerative and ultimately fatal disorder affecting as many as five million Americans and that number is expected to soar to more than 11 million by 2040.

7 Apr 2010

Scientists use non-viral, synthetic nanoparticle carrier to restores vision

Take a look at this: Scientists from Buffalo, Cleveland, and Oklahoma City made a huge step toward making the blind see, and they did it by using a form of gene therapy that does not involve the use of modified viruses.

1 Apr 2010

Plaques in blood vessels may break by overproducing protein-digesting enzymes

University of Washington (UW) researchers have gathered evidence that dangerous plaques in blood vessels can rupture by overproducing protein-digesting enzymes. Plaques are fat-laden rough spots in the otherwise smooth walls of arteries. When a plaque ruptures, blood accumulates inside of it, a process known as plaque hemorrhage. The plaque enlarges and artery-blocking clots can form. If the flow of oxygen-rich blood is restricted, a heart attack, stroke, or damage to other organs can occur.

30 Mar 2010

Neurologix reports net loss of $13.5M for year ended December 31, 2009

Neurologix, Inc., a biotechnology company engaged in the development of innovative therapies for the brain and central nervous system, today announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2009.

26 Mar 2010

Proteacel acquires exclusive rights to PORE technology from Moffitt Cancer Center

Moffitt Cancer Center and Proteacel LLC announced today that they have entered a licensing agreement under which Proteacel has acquired the exclusive rights to the PORE™ technology for delivery of genes into cells.

18 Mar 2010

Fungi, like bacteria, can cause severe infections

Fungi have significant potential for "horizontal" gene transfer, a new study has shown, similar to the mechanisms that allow bacteria to evolve so quickly, become resistant to antibiotics and cause other serious problems.

18 Mar 2010

Neurologix receives US PTO Notice of Allowance concerning treatment approach for epilepsy

Neurologix, Inc. today announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for intellectual property central to the company’s approach to the treatment of epilepsy. The patent allowance specifically refers to Neurologix’s patent application, “Methods and Compositions for the Treatment of Neurological Disease,” which covers the treatment of seizures associated with temporal lobe epilepsy by direct administration into the brain’s temporal lobe of an AAV vector encoding Neuropeptide Y (NPY).

15 Mar 2010

Gene therapy for LCA clears another hurdle: Study

Gene therapy for a severe inherited blindness, which produced dramatic improvements last year in 12 children and young adults who received the treatment in a clinical trial, has cleared another hurdle. The same research team that conducted the human trial now reports that a study in animals has shown that a second injection of genes into the opposite, previously untreated eye is safe and effective, with no signs of interference from unwanted immune reactions following the earlier injection.

4 Mar 2010

Axiogenesis, Lonza Cologne announce global distribution agreement

Axiogenesis AG has entered into a worldwide, exclusive distribution agreement with Lonza Cologne AG effective 01 January 2010. The agreement includes Axiogenesis’s current product and service portfolio, including the industry standard Cor.At® mouse embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

3 Mar 2010

Neurologix hires MTS Health Partners, L.P. as strategic advisor to augment business development activities

Neurologix, Inc., a biotechnology company engaged in the development of innovative therapies for the brain and central nervous system, today announced that it has hired MTS Health Partners, L.P. as strategic advisor to complement and augment the company’s ongoing business development activities.

12 Feb 2010

US PTO grants new allowances to intellectual property covering Neurologix' GAD based delivery systems

Neurologix, Inc., a biotechnology company engaged in the development of innovative therapies for the brain and central nervous system, announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (US PTO) has expanded the intellectual property protections enabled by a previously issued patent that is central to Neurologix’s Parkinson’s disease program. The new allowances to U.S. Patent Number 765,446, entitled “Glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) based delivery systems,” broaden the patent’s coverage beyond Parkinson’s disease to include the use of GAD65 in the treatment of other neurological and related disorders.

27 Jan 2010

University Hospitals Case Medical Center conducts Phase 2 clinical trial of gene therapy for AD

University Hospitals Case Medical Center is one of 12 sites conducting the first Phase 2 clinical trial of a gene therapy for Alzheimer's disease (AD). The study uses a viral-based gene transfer system called CERE-110, which is designed to deliver nerve growth factor (NGF) into the brain.

8 Jan 2010

BUSM researchers discover new gene therapy for treating emphysema patients

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have discovered a new gene therapy that may prevent the progression of emphysema. The study, which appears on-line in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, describes a method to express therapeutic genes in lung tissue for a lifetime after only a single treatment.

22 Dec 2009

Scientists identify new therapeutic approach for overcoming emphysema

Individuals with single-gene mutations that mean they have abnormally low levels of the protein alpha-1 antitrypsin are highly susceptible to emphysema, a progressive lung disease that causes severe shortness of breath.

22 Dec 2009

Preliminary data from Phase 2 clinical trial of ZFP Therapeutic program presented

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. announced today the presentation of preliminary data from the Phase 2 clinical trial of its ZFP Therapeutic(TM) program to develop SB-509 as a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at a Work in Progress session at the 20th International Symposium on ALS/MND held in Berlin, Germany.

9 Dec 2009

Neurologix completes Phase 2 clinical trial of Parkinson’s study

Neurologix, Inc. (OTCBB:NRGX), a biotechnology company engaged in the development of innovative therapies for the brain and central nervous system, announced the completion of all planned surgeries in an ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial of the company’s gene transfer approach to the treatment of advanced Parkinson’s disease.

4 Dec 2009

Gene therapy may hold promise for cryptorchid individuals risking infertility

EGR4 is a master gene responsible for fertility in cryptorchidism. Is gene therapy going to replace surgery?

18 Nov 2009

Phase 2 clinical trial to test gene therapy treatment for Alzheimer's disease

Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of 12 sites nationwide participating in the first Phase 2 clinical trial to test gene therapy treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The study is the first multicenter neurosurgical intervention in Alzheimer's research in the U.S.

18 Nov 2009