Innovative neurosurgical technique used in Tay-Sachs gene therapy clinical trial By Susan E.W. Spencer March 03, 2021
When the first patient in a new clinical trial was given a gene therapy targeting infantile Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff diseases in January, an innovative procedure that represents a “new frontier for neurosurgery” was used to deliver the therapeutic.
Red arrows indicate the location
in the thalamus where the
infusion is targeted.
The trial, by Sio Gene Therapies (formerly known as Axovant), is an open-label, two-stage, clinical study designed to evaluate safety and dose-escalation and safety and efficacy of surgical delivery of AXO-AAV-GM2 to the brain and spinal cord of trial participants with infantile or juvenile GM2 gangliosidosis. Sio licensed exclusive worldwide rights from UMass Medical School for the development and commercialization of gene therapy programs for GM1 gangliosidosis and GM2 gangliosidosis, including