This month, a new FDA commissioner was confirmed, a promising cancer drug delivered surprising clinical trial results, and China moved ahead of Western nations in human gene-editing experiments. Meanwhile, LabCorp completed a major acquisition and test menus expanded for two infectious disease molecular diagnostics platforms, according to Kalorama Information. The healthcare market research publisher published its most recent report, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) Market in Healthcare (U.S. Markets for Surgery; Medical Education and Training; Pain Management, Rehabilitation and Therapy) this week.
Among the top news stories in May are the following:
China moves ahead with human gene-editing trials
Scientists in China are pressing ahead with human gene-editing clinical trials this month. A new human trial began April 28, the Wall Street Journal reported, when an advanced cancer patient was injected with cells that had been genetically modified using Crispr-Cas9 technology.
A different research group in China made history Oct. 28 when it injected the first human with edited cells, part of a small safety trial. The new trial aims to enroll 20 advanced cancer patients, the Wall Street Journal reported, and at least five other human trials are planned.
While China is the first country to use Crispr-Cas9 to treat human patients, the United States is not far behind. A team at the University of Pennsylvania last year got the first approval in the U.S. to test Crispr-Cas9 in humans. That trial is scheduled to start this summer.
Gene editing has been used in humans before, but these are the first trials involving Crispr-cas9, a technology that is simpler and more precise.
The Chinese scientists are using gene editing to encourage a patient's immune system to attack cancer. In the trials underway so far, they collected immune cells and used Crispr-cas9 to disable a gene for a protein called PD-1, which is a "checkpoint" that prevents them from attacking. These immune cells, with their checkpoint disabled, were multiplied and reinjected into the patient in high numbers, in hopes they would kill cancer cells.
The principle is similar that of immunotherapy cancer drugs, including TECENTRIQ and OPDIVO. The drugs are monoclonal antibodies that inactive checkpoint proteins by binding to them, while gene editing inactivates these proteins by removing the genes that code for them.
Source: prnmedia.prnewswire.com