Collaboration entails development of gene therapy treatment for severe neurodegenerative disease GM1-gangliosidosis LYSOGENE, a leading, clinical stage gene therapy biotechnology company committed to the development and commercialization of breakthrough treatments for severe orphan pathologies affecting the central nervous system (CNS), recently announced that it has entered into a strategic collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Auburn University (AU) in Auburn, Alabama. Through the collaboration, LYSOGENE, UMMS and AU will develop IND-supporting preclinical studies in GM1-gangliosidosis, a rare, inherited disorder characterized by severe neurological impairment, using adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy technology. The collaboration will combine LYSOGENEs outstanding translational and clinical expertise in gene therapy for CNS disorders with the unique preclinical expertise and infrastructure of UMMS and AU to design and test innovative AAV-based gene therapy approaches to treat GM1-gangliosidosis. The development of a potential treatment for GM1-gangliosidosis using AAV gene therapy was initiated in 2005 by Miguel Sena-Esteves, PhD, associate professor in the Neurology Department and the Gene Therapy Center at UMMS, and Douglas R. Martin, PhD, associate professor in the Scott-Ritchey Research Center and Department of Anatomy, Physiology & Pharmacology at AU. The approach developed by the investigators uses AAV vectors … Continue reading →