The promise of gene therapy is to provide transformative treatments that meaningfully improve quality of life for patients, many of whom are currently living with debilitating diseases. To bring these treatments to market, sponsors are tasked with conducting clinical trials that generate robust evidence with appropriate safety oversight. In addition, gene therapy trials are faced...
Insights into the human genome have created myriad therapeutic opportunities for previously untreatable diseases. Gene therapy offers promise for addressing unmet medical needs across therapeutic areas and even the potential for curing certain genetically based conditions. As research tools and technology become more sophisticated, gene therapy development is accelerating at an unprecedented pace. According to...
One of the biopharmaceutical industry’s most closely watched forthcoming regulatory developments is the FDA’s imminent reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). PDUFA VII, as the reauthorization is commonly known, will cover the fiscal years 2023-2027. Many of the advancements included in PDUFA VII are driven in large part by an increase in...
The gene therapy era can be said to have begun in 1990, when the first gene therapy clinical trial took place. Some 3,000 clinical trials have followed that first study, a resounding affirmation of innovators’ increasing recognition of gene therapy’s breakthrough possibilities for treating a diverse range of disorders — especially afflictions with limited or...
Advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP) development is on the rise. According to the American Society of Gene + Cell Therapy, there were 1,745 gene therapies in development in May 2021, 70% of which were in preclinical studies, and more than 1,300 of these candidates were in development for oncology, the most active therapeutic area. Given...
Background The European regulatory landscape for advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) is complex and the approval pathway depends on product classification. The EMA’s Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT) is responsible for providing scientific recommendations on the classification of ATMPs as either gene therapy medicinal products (GTMPs), somatic cell therapy medicinal products (sCTMPs), tissue-engineered products (TEPs),...
Advanced therapies – including gene-, cell-, and tissue-based products – offer groundbreaking new opportunities for the treatment of disease. As of the end of 2020, there were 1,085 active developers of these therapies and 152 ongoing Phase 3 trials worldwide. According to the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, regulatory decisions are expected on a record eight...
Immunotherapy has led to substantial advances in cancer therapy in recent years. Still, unpredictable response rates and immune-related adverse events have hampered the widespread use of immune checkpoint therapy to treat cancers. To tackle these challenges, sponsors are increasingly looking to combination therapies as a strategy for improving response and overcoming resistance. In our previous...
In recent years, immunotherapy has led to substantial advances in cancer therapy. In particular, the immune checkpoint inhibitors — PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors — have revolutionized treatment for certain hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved six immunotherapies across 19 cancer types and two tissue-agnostic conditions. But widespread...
According to the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, there were 1,085 active advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP) developers and more than 150 phase III trials underway at the end of 2020. These numbers are not small, and they make it clear that ATMPs have much to offer in helping us overcome as-yet undefeated diseases.ATMPs are different...