Over the past few months, we have begun discussing gene therapy and the potential impact it will have on the field of medicine. Just recently, on August 30th, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made the first gene therapy treatment available in the United States. The treatment, Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel), is for certain pediatric and young adult patients suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The multicenter trial for Kymriah consisted of 63 pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor ALL. The overall remission rate within three months of treatment was 83 percent. Click here to read more about the study and the amazing results. Dr. Rod Nowakowski of VisionAmerica has kept his finger on the pulse of developments in the field of gene therapy as it has rapidly progressed. Speaking of the most recent FDA announcement, Dr. Nowakowski stated, "In just a few years we have witnessed two amazing events in genetics. First was the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 and second was the first FDA approved gene therapy. "These are exciting times," Dr. Nowakowski exclaimed. "It is not gene therapy for an eye condition but that is likely to follow shortly as Spark Therapeutics is expected to get FDA approval soon for treating Leber congenital amaurosis." We will continue to follow the field of gene therapy closely and update you on any developments. If you have questions regarding gene therapy and how it may benefit your patients, please let us know! We would love to help!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorThe staff and doctors at VisionAmerica are committed to providing relevant information for you, your patients and your practice. We hope you find the information in our blog post helpful. Archives
August 2019
Categories |