Stem cell research may hold key to restoring neural function in glaucoma patients
At this time there is no therapy that can restore vision after retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death in patients with glaucoma. However, stem cell-based treatments do have the potential to restore function in individuals with various neurodegenerative diseases, reported Keith R. Martin, MD, of Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
FDA approved Fayuvi (rebisufligene etisparvovec-hopf), a one-time AAV9 gene therapy, for pediatric patients with Sanfilippo syndrome type A, based on cognitive data from an open-label trial in children 2 to 5 years old.
Ocugen dosed the first patient in ArMaDa3, a global phase 3 trial of the one-time gene therapy OCU410 for geographic atrophy, following FDA RMAT designation and phase 2 data showing a 31% reduction in lesion growth versus control.
Novartis suspended several autoimmune and neurology trials of rap-cel after 3 patient deaths linked to immune effector cell-associated hemophagocytic syndrome, and BMS separately paused zola-cel studies after observing inflammatory safety events.
The FDA placed a new clinical hold on REGENXBIO's RGX-121 for Hunter syndrome after asymptomatic spine MRI findings were identified in 5 trial participants, the gene therapy's second regulatory setback this year.
The FDA extended its review of deramiocel for Duchenne muscular dystrophy to November 22, 2026, after accepting additional HOPE-3 data as a major BLA amendment.
PTC Therapeutics wins Sangamo's BLA-stage Fabry disease gene therapy ST-920 for $111 million in a bankruptcy auction, with STAAR data supporting accelerated approval.
FDA granted accelerated approval to pariglasgene brecaparvovec-opnr, a one-time liver-directed AAV8 gene therapy, based on a 31% reduction in cornstarch intake versus placebo.