News

Lysogene’s Phase 2/3 trial on LYS-SAF302 gene therapy, a clinical candidate for Sanfilippo syndrome type A, will begin in the second half of 2018 due to manufacturing delays. LYS-SAF302 is a viral vector that carries a healthy SGSH gene. This gene gives instructions to produce an enzyme called sulfamidase, which…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted its regenerative medicine advanced therapy (RMAT) designation to Abeona Therapeutics‘ investigative gene therapy ABO-102, under development for the treatment of Sanfilippo syndrome type A. Also known as MPS IIIA (mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIA), Sanfilippo syndrome type A is a severe and progressive disorder caused…

Subcutaneous pentosan polysulfate (PPS) treatment reduces overall inflammation and brain degeneration, improving hyperactivity/anxiety and learning behavior in Sanfillipo syndrome type A, according to a mouse study. The study, “Pentosan Polysulfate Treatment of Mucopolysaccharidosis Type IIIA Mice,” was published in the Journal of Inherited Metabolic Disease.

A little-known government entity within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is helping to lead U.S. efforts to speed up the development of therapies for some 7,000 rare diseases. The Office of Rare Diseases Research (ORDR), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, was established in 1993 within the NIH Office of the…

Analyzing small molecules produced by cells in the blood of Sanfilippo syndrome patients can be used as a minimally invasive tool for biomarker assessment, to help diagnose and assess therapeutic options for these patients. Those findings are in the study “Serum global metabolomics profiling reveals profound metabolic impairments in patients with…

High numbers of antibodies targeting different types of adeno-associated viruses (AAV) pose challenges for AAV-based gene therapies in Sanfilippo syndrome children, according to researchers. The study, “Differential prevalence of antibodies against adeno-associated virus in healthy children and patients with mucopolysaccharidosis III: perspective for AAV-mediated gene therapy,” was published…

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics, an independent advisory group on ethical issues in bioscience in the United Kingdom and abroad, recently published briefing material on the ethical issues raised by the whole genome sequencing of newborns and small infants. This sequencing is now being used in the U.K.’s National Health…