StemCell Therapy

US researchers have highlighted the potential of using gene therapy to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (1215 October, San Francisco).

Dr Szilard Kiss, from Weill Cornell Medical College, shared his belief that a gene therapy for wet AMD could be available within the next three to five years.

Dr Kiss and his team developed a vector that inserts genetic material producing a molecule similar to anti-VEGF medicine aflibercept within the cells of the eye.

Once inserted, the DNA sequence begins making aflibercept protein.

Instead of taking a vile of aflibercept and injecting it into the eye, your eye makes the aflibercept, Dr Kiss highlighted.

The goal is a potentially one-and-done treatment. You may need a booster once in a while, but this gene therapy could theoretically last a lifetime, he added.

Image credit: Pixabay/PublicDomainPictures

Read more:
Using a one-and-done gene therapy to treat wet AMD - AOP

This entry was posted on October 29, 2019 at 2:45 pm and is filed under Gene therapy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |