Researchers have been working for decades to bring gene therapy to the clinic, yet very few patients have received any effective gene-therapy treatments. But that doesn't mean gene therapy is an impossible dream. Even though gene therapy has been slow to reach patients, its future is very encouraging. Decades of research have taught us a lot about designing safe and effective vectors, targeting different types of cells, and managing and minimizing immune responses in patients. We've also learned a lot about the disease genes themselves. Today, many clinical trials are underway, where researchers are carefully testing treatments to ensure that any gene therapy brought into the clinic is both safe and effective.
Below are some gene therapy success stories. Successes represent a variety of approachesdifferent vectors, different target cell populations, and both in vivo and ex vivo approachesto treating a variety of disorders.
Sebastian Misztal was a patient in a hemophilia gene therapy trial in 2011. Following the treatment, Misztal no longer had spontaneous bleeding episodes. Credit: UCLH/UCL NIHR Biomedical Research Centre
Several inherited immune deficiencies have been treated successfully with gene therapy. Most commonly, blood stem cells are removed from patients, and retroviruses are used to deliver working copies of the defective genes. After the genes have been delivered, the stem cells are returned to the patient. Because the cells are treated outside the patient's body, the virus will infect and transfer the gene to only the desired target cells.
Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID) was one of the first genetic disorders to be treated successfully with gene therapy, proving that the approach could work. However, the first clinical trials ended when the viral vector triggered leukemia (a type of blood cancer) in some patients. Since then, researchers have begun trials with new, safer viral vectors that are much less likely to cause cancer.
Adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency is another inherited immune disorder that has been successfully treated with gene therapy. In multiple small trials, patients' blood stem cells were removed, treated with a retroviral vector to deliver a functional copy of the ADA gene, and then returned to the patients. For the majority of patients in these trials, immune function improved to the point that they no longer needed injections of ADA enzyme. Importantly, none of them developed leukemia.
Gene therapies are being developed to treat several different types of inherited blindnessespecially degenerative forms, where patients gradually lose the light-sensing cells in their eyes. Encouraging results from animal models (especially mouse, rat, and dog) show that gene therapy has the potential to slow or even reverse vision loss.
The eye turns out to be a convenient compartment for gene therapy. The retina, on the inside of the eye, is both easy to access and partially protected from the immune system. And viruses can't move from the eye to other places in the body. Most gene-therapy vectors used in the eye are based on AAV (adeno-associated virus).
In one small trial of patients with a form of degenerative blindness called LCA (Leber congenital amaurosis), gene therapy greatly improved vision for at least a few years. However, the treatment did not stop the retina from continuing to degenerate. In another trial, 6 out of 9 patients with the degenerative disease choroideremia had improved vision after a virus was used to deliver a functional REP1 gene.
Credit: Jean Bennett, MD, PhD, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; Manzar Ashtari, Ph.D., of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Science Translational Medicine.
People with hemophilia are missing proteins that help their blood form clots. Those with the most-severe forms of the disease can lose large amounts of blood through internal bleeding or even a minor cut.
In a small trial, researchers successfully used an adeno-associated viral vector to deliver a gene for Factor IX, the missing clotting protein, to liver cells. After treatment, most of the patients made at least some Factor IX, and they had fewer bleeding incidents.
Patients with beta-Thalassemia have a defect in the beta-globin gene, which codes for an oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells. Because of the defective gene, patients don't have enough red blood cells to carry oxygen to all the body's tissues. Many who have this disorder depend on blood transfusions for survival.
In 2007, a patient received gene therapy for severe beta-Thalassemia. Blood stem cells were taken from his bone marrow and treated with a retrovirus to transfer a working copy of the beta-globin gene. The modified stem cells were returned to his body, where they gave rise to healthy red blood cells. Seven years after the procedure, he was still doing well without blood transfusions.
A similar approach could be used to treat patients with sickle cell disease.
In 2012, Glybera became the first viral gene-therapy treatment to be approved in Europe. The treatment uses an adeno-associated virus to deliver a working copy of the LPL (lipoprotein lipase) gene to muscle cells. The LPL gene codes for a protein that helps break down fats in the blood, preventing fat concentrations from rising to toxic levels.
Several promising gene-therapy treatments are under development for cancer. One, a modified version of the herpes simplex 1 virus (which normally causes cold sores) has been shown to be effective against melanoma (a skin cancer) that has spread throughout the body. The treatment, called T-VEC, uses a virus that has been modified so that it will (1) not cause cold sores; (2) kill only cancer cells, not healthy ones; and (3) make signals that attract the patient's own immune cells, helping them learn to recognize and fight cancer cells throughout the body. The virus is injected directly into the patient's tumors. It replicates (makes more of itself) inside the cancer cells until they burst, releasing more viruses that can infect additional cancer cells.
A completely different approach was used in a trial to treat 59 patients with leukemia, a type of blood cancer. The patients' own immune cells were removed and treated with a virus that genetically altered them to recognize a protein that sits on the surface of the cancer cells. After the immune cells were returned to the patients, 26 experienced complete remission.
Patients with Parkinson's disease gradually lose cells in the brain that produce the signaling molecule dopamine. As the disease advances, patients lose the ability to control their movements.
A small group of patients with advanced Parkinson's disease were treated with a retroviral vector to introduce three genes into cells in a small area of the brain. These genes gave cells that don't normally make dopamine the ability to do so. After treatment, all of the patients in the trial had improved muscle control.
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Gene Therapy Successes - Learn Genetics
- Patient Dies of Acute Liver Failure After Treatment With Sareptas DMD Gene Therapy Elevidys - CGTLive - March 19th, 2025
- Patient dies following muscular dystrophy gene therapy, Sarepta reports - The Associated Press - March 19th, 2025
- Duchenne patient dies after receiving Sarepta gene therapy - March 19th, 2025
- Liver Failure-Associated Death Reported in Patient Treated With Sarepta Gene Therapy Elevidys - MedCity News - March 19th, 2025
- DoD grant funds Hollings researcher's idea to pursue gene therapy for cancer - Medical University of South Carolina - March 19th, 2025
- Recon: Sarepta reports death of teen who received Duchenne gene therapy; Novartis to slash 427 jobs while revamping cardiovascular business -... - March 19th, 2025
- Data Gaps Leave Long-Term Impact of Ex Vivo Gene Therapy in DMD Uncertain - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network - March 19th, 2025
- CHO Plus Obtains U.S. Patent for Improved Production of Viral Vectors for Gene Therapy - Business Wire - March 19th, 2025
- Sarepta Shares Fall on Report of Patient Death After Gene Therapy - Bloomberg - March 19th, 2025
- Hologen AI commits up to $430M to help take MeiraGTx's Parkinson's gene therapy through phase 3 and beyond - Fierce Biotech - March 19th, 2025
- Duchenne patient on Sareptas gene therapy dies - The Business Journals - March 19th, 2025
- Im Unstoppable: New gene therapy cures first New Yorker of sickle cell anemia - PIX11 New York News - March 19th, 2025
- Boost in cancer treatment: PGI working on lab for stem cell, gene therapies - The Times of India - March 19th, 2025
- Man Cured Of Sickle Cell Disease In New York Thanks To New Gene Therapy - Forbes - March 19th, 2025
- Sarepta says teen died after its gene therapy treatment By Reuters - Investing.com - March 19th, 2025
- Innovative Gene Therapy Approach Drives Buy Rating for Insmed in DMD Treatment - TipRanks - March 19th, 2025
- Sarepta says patient dies after treatment with gene therapy - TradingView - March 19th, 2025
- Sarepta tumbles after patient dies following gene therapy treatment - TradingView - March 19th, 2025
- MeiraGTx teams with cryptic AI startup, co-founded by Eric Schmidt, to advance Parkinson's gene therapy - Endpoints News - March 19th, 2025
- Sickle cell anemia patient reunites with Long Island doctors whose gene therapy treatments made him symptom-free - Newsday - March 19th, 2025
- Extracellular vesicles for the delivery of gene therapy - Nature.com - March 9th, 2025
- Around the Helix: Cell and Gene Therapy Company Updates March 5, 2025 - CGTLive - March 9th, 2025
- Inside the secret island where wealthy people go to alter their DNA - Daily Mail - March 9th, 2025
- Regenerons Gene Therapy DB-OTO Trial Shows Promising Hearing Improvement - The Hearing Review - March 9th, 2025
- Global Cell and Gene Therapy Manufacturing Market to Reach ~USD 10 Billion by 2032 | DelveInsight - GlobeNewswire - March 9th, 2025
- College Station gene therapy company partners with nonprofit to develop treatments for rare diseases - KBTX - March 9th, 2025
- World Hearing Day 2025: Looking Back at Progress in Gene Therapy - CGTLive - March 9th, 2025
- Reflecting on a milestone year for cell and gene therapies - Pharmaceutical Technology - March 9th, 2025
- Q&A: Whats Next for Hemophilia Gene Therapy? | Newswise - Newswise - March 9th, 2025
- 'Llife-changing' gene therapy in London partially restores CT child's sight - CT Insider - March 9th, 2025
- The Genesis of Cell Therapy: Bridging Traditional Pharmacology and Gene Therapy - Technology Networks - March 9th, 2025
- Regenxbio at TD Cowen Conference: Gene Therapy Advancements - Investing.com - March 9th, 2025
- Anova Announces First Patient Enrolled to Phase 1/2a Study of DB107 for the Treatment of High-Grade Gliomas - Business Wire - March 9th, 2025
- Apertura Gene Therapy Supports the Broad Institute in Development of Gene Therapy for Prion Disease Using Engineered AAV Capsid Targeting TfR1 for CNS... - March 9th, 2025
- Gene therapy research offers hope for people with chronic kidney disease - Medical Xpress - January 6th, 2025
- Sangamo Therapeutics to Regain Full Rights to Hemophilia A Gene Therapy Program Following Pfizers Decision to Cease Development of Giroctocogene... - January 6th, 2025
- JCR Pharmaceuticals and Modalis Therapeutics Announce Transition to the Next Phase of Joint Research Agreement for Development of Novel Gene Therapy -... - January 6th, 2025
- Gene therapy targets the retina to treat eye disease - Nature.com - January 6th, 2025
- Sangamos Stock Plummets as Pfizer Axes Hemophilia Gene Therapy Pact - BioSpace - January 6th, 2025
- How Increased Use of Gene Therapy Treatment for Sickle Cell Disease Could Affect the Federal Budget - Congressional Budget Office - January 6th, 2025
- The Future of Regulatory Processes in Cell and Gene Therapy - Pharmaceutical Executive - January 6th, 2025
- CGTLive's 2024 Pillars of Progress: Most-Watched Conference Interviews - CGTLive - January 6th, 2025
- Pfizer cuts losses on near-approval hemophilia gene therapy, adding to troubled Sangamo's woes - Fierce Biotech - January 6th, 2025
- JCR Pharmaceuticals and Modalis Advance Joint Gene Therapy Research - TipRanks - January 6th, 2025
- JCR and Modalis Advance Joint Gene Therapy Research - TipRanks - January 6th, 2025
- Novartis Gene Therapy Shows Promise in Treating SMA - Yahoo Finance - January 6th, 2025
- Gene Therapy Market to Hit Valuation of US$ 42.26 Billion By 2033 | Astute Analytica - Yahoo Finance - January 6th, 2025
- Novartis gene therapy helps children with rare muscle disorder in study - Reuters - January 6th, 2025
- Capricor Puts Rolling BLA for DMD Cardiomyopathy Cell Therapy Deramiocel in Front of the FDA - CGTLive - January 6th, 2025
- Positive data could expand use of Novartis gene therapy for SMA - Yahoo Finance - January 6th, 2025
- Sangamo spirals after Pfizer halts hemophilia A gene therapy partnership - MM+M Online - January 6th, 2025
- Cell Therapy and Gene Therapy CDMO Market to Reach USD 11.11 Billion by 2030 | Discover Growth Trends and Insights | Valuates Reports - PR Newswire - January 6th, 2025
- Struggling With Adoption, Sickle Cell Gene Therapy Manufacturers Embrace CMS Model - News & Insights - January 6th, 2025
- Sangamo Therapeutics to Regain Rights to Gene Therapy Program from Pfizer - Contract Pharma - January 6th, 2025
- Researchers Create Gene Therapy with Potential to Treat Peripheral Pain ... - December 28th, 2024
- How CRISPR Is Changing Cancer Research and Treatment - December 28th, 2024
- Gene Therapy Shows Long-Term Vision Benefits in Rare Eye Disease - December 28th, 2024
- 100 cell and gene therapy leaders to watch in 2025 - December 28th, 2024
- Can a new gene therapy reverse heart failure? - Futurity - December 28th, 2024
- Sustained visual improvements in LHON patients treated with AAV gene therapy - Medical Xpress - December 28th, 2024
- Nebraska Medicine administers novel gene therapy to first hemophilia ... - December 28th, 2024
- Gene Therapy for Cardiomyopathies Presents Promising Alternative to Current Treatment - Managed Healthcare Executive - December 28th, 2024
- Stem Cell Transplantation Still the Main Treatment Option for Beta-Thalassemia - Medpage Today - December 28th, 2024
- Caribou Overhyped Gene-Therapy Testing, Investor Class Suit Says - Bloomberg Law - December 28th, 2024
- WuXi AppTec sells off cell and gene therapy operations in US, UK - FirstWord Pharma - December 28th, 2024
- Top 5 Print Publication Articles of 2024 - Managed Healthcare Executive - December 28th, 2024
- Gene Therapy Shows Long-Term Vision Benefits in Rare Eye Disease - Medpage Today - December 28th, 2024
- UPenn gene therapy pioneers biotech gets $34 million in funding - The Philadelphia Inquirer - December 28th, 2024
- PHC Corporation to present LiCellGrow at Advanced Therapies Week 2025 - Drug Target Review - December 28th, 2024
- The Evolution of Cell & Gene Therapy: Development and Manufacturing Insights and the Role of CDMOs - Pharmaceutical Technology Magazine - December 28th, 2024
- Pig kidney transplants, new schizophrenia drug: Here are 5 of the biggest medical breakthroughs in 2024 - ABC News - December 28th, 2024
- Cell Therapy Manufacturing Trends And Advancements Continuing In 2025 - BioProcess Online - December 28th, 2024
- Can Gene Therapy Treat Chronic Pain? - LabRoots - December 28th, 2024
- Driving innovation: India's foray into gene and cell therapies - The Economic Times - December 28th, 2024
- Governor Hochul Celebrates the Opening Of New York's First Cell and Gene Therapy Hub at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo - PR Web - December 19th, 2024
- GenSight Biologics Provides Update on Regulatory Discussions and Financial Situation - Business Wire - December 19th, 2024
- Atsena completes dosing in part A of X-linked retinoschisis gene therapy trial - Healio - December 19th, 2024
- Astellas and Sangamo Therapeutics Announce Capsid License Agreement to Deliver Genomic Medicines for Neurological Diseases - StreetInsider.com - December 19th, 2024
- Ring Therapeutics lays off just under half of staff in 2nd wave of cuts this year, CEO set to step down - Fierce Biotech - December 19th, 2024
- Gov. Hochul celebrates opening of first cell and gene therapy hub in NYS - WIVB.com - News 4 - December 19th, 2024