Precision medicine is becoming a reality in Asia Pacific as more targeted therapies are being developed that are tailored to individual patients, offering a potential cure for disease. But is Asia Pacific ready to harness this transformation, and if not, what are the hurdles that need to be cleared?
After about a two-week absence as the U.S. FDA’s CBER director, Vinay Prasad’s return overall prompted a mild reaction on Wall Street for some stocks tied to companies developing cell and gene therapies.
Precision medicine is becoming a reality in Asia Pacific as more targeted therapies are being developed that are tailored to individual patients, offering a potential cure for disease. But is Asia Pacific ready to harness this transformation, and if not, what are the hurdles that need to be cleared? A new report by LEK Consulting examines Asia Pacific’s readiness for what it calls the “Precision Era,” and examines four key biopharma markets in Australia, China, Japan and South Korea.
Purespring Therapeutics Ltd. has received the go-ahead for a phase I/II trial of its investigational gene therapy PS-002 from both the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the National Health Service Health Research Authority and Research Ethics Committee.
In an effort to develop next-generation treatments for cystinuria, researchers at Vanderbilt University and Tennessee Valley Health Services have used a non-viral piggyBac transposon approach to insert the Slc3a1 gene into one kidney of mice lacking the endogenous gene, which services as a model of type A cystinuria.
The news that Vinay Prasad has stepped down as CBER director at the U.S. FDA had some biotech stocks literally jumping in joy as the market opened July 30. Meanwhile, Prasad’s decisions regarding vaccine development, as well as actions by Makary and HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy, are coming under fire.
An experimental gene therapy based on the prime editing technique could become an effective treatment for alternating hemiplegia of childhood, a severe and currently incurable rare disease. David Liu’s lab at the Broad Institute, the inventor of this gene edition methodology, together with scientists from The Jackson Laboratory, successfully reversed the effects of five mutations associated with this disorder in a mouse model.
Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.’s adventure with the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) AAV-based gene therapy Elevidys (delandistrogene moxeparvovec) continued as the firm said it would restart shipments of the compound for ambulatory patients “imminently,” with the U.S. FDA’s blessing.
An experimental gene therapy based on the prime editing technique could become an effective treatment for alternating hemiplegia of childhood, a severe and currently incurable rare disease. David Liu’s lab at the Broad Institute, the inventor of this gene edition methodology, together with scientists from The Jackson Laboratory, successfully reversed the effects of five mutations associated with this disorder in a mouse model.
Neurogene Inc.’s disclosure June 30 of its registrational trial design in Rett syndrome (RS) added spice to the space, where Taysha Gene Therapies Inc. is another closely watched player. The New York-based firm said Embolden will test NGN-401, a gene therapy for the treatment of females age 3 and older with RS. U.S. regulators have signed off regarding key aspects of Embolden’s structure.