Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the most common disease of the retina and the main cause of vision loss in adults over 60 years. It is estimated that 3 million people worldwide are affected, and its incidence increases as life expectancy grows in developed countries. AMD is a progressive disease that affects the macula, the area near the...
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In the first months of 2020, positive results in gene therapy of X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) have been reported. XLRP is an inherited genetic disorder that causes progressive vision loss, mainly in men. It begins in childhood with night blindness, progresses with the gradual reduction of the visual field and visual acuity, and leads to blindness in the fourth decade...
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The patient, treated at the Casey Eye Institute in Portland, Oregon, belongs to a group of 18 people affected with Leber congenital amaurosis. These patients will participate in the BRILLIANCE study, the first clinical trial to determine the safety and efficacy of a therapy based on the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technique (AGN-151587, EDIT-101). It is the first example of an...
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This February Moorfields Eye Hospital in London and Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford have started treating patients affected by Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) with the Luxturna gene therapy. LCA is a childhood-onset severe retinal dystrophy, which causes irreversible blindness for which, until now, no treatment was available. Luxturna (voretigene neparvovec) is also the first gene therapy approved for the treatment of an...
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The American biotechnology company Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (AGTC), specialized in the development of gene therapies for rare diseases, has just announced Stargardt disease as its new preclinical gene therapy program in ophthalmology. Stargardt disease characterized by a progressive loss of central vision affects one in 8,000-10,000 individuals and is the most common form of inherited macular degeneration. The first...
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In recent years, a powerful gene-editing technology called CRISPR-Cas9 has revolutionized biology turning the process of genome modification into an easy and inexpensive process. This revolutionary technique makes use of molecular tools that allow precise identification of DNA fragments –for example a gene– and either introduce modifications, delete a genomic fragment, or even insert a new DNA fragment or a...
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