The AAVCOVID vaccine program, a novel gene-based vaccine strategy led by Luk Vandenberghe, PhD, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Grousbeck Gene Therapy Center at Mass Eye and Ear, that utilizes an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector, was granted an award of $2.1 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.... Read more about Preclinical Data on Single-Dose, Room Temperature-Stable COVID-19 Vaccine Supported by New Funding
Researchers led by a team at Massachusetts Eye and Ear have identified a novel cellular entry factor for adeno-associated virus vector (AAV) types—the most commonly used viral vectors for in vivo gene therapy. AAVs are vectors–or vehicles—that are created from a virus that is made harmless by molecular engineering, and have shown promise transporting genetic therapy treatments to affected tissues.... Read more about Researchers Uncover Mechanism for How Common Gene Therapy Vectors Enter Cells
In Nature, Luk Vandenberghe, PhD, Harvard Medical School Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of the Grousbeck Gene Therapy Center at Mass. Eye and Ear, discusses increasing the efficiency of gene therapies by manipulating the viral vectors that transport genes into cells. He also talks about taking a nonprofit approach to tackle the economics of developing gene therapy for rare diseases.... Read more about Luk Vandenberghe, PhD, Builds Designer Viruses for Improved Gene Therapy
Luk H. Vandenberghe, PhD, along with collaborator and lead author Rob Collin, PhD, of Radboud University Medical Center, has been selected to receive the 2017 Ed Gollob Board of Directors’ Awardfrom the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB). This award is presented annually in recognition of significant research advancements. According to the FFB, their winning paper, “In vitro and in vivo rescue of aberrant splicing in CEP290-...
Boston, Mass. — Luk H. Vandenberghe, PhD, Director of the Grousbeck Gene Therapy Center at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, has been awarded a Nelson Trust Award for Retinitis Pigmentosa by Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) in the amount of $100,000 over two years. The Nelson Trust Award was established to stimulate, strengthen and accelerate research to improve...
The strategic licensing agreement between Lonza and Massachusetts Eye and Ear® underscores Lonza’s position as a leading AAV manufacturing service provider and offers customers unprecedented technology and services to commercialize next generation gene therapies.
The Anc-AAV vector platform has the potential to overcome pre-existing immunity in order to treat more patients compared with other viral vectors currently in development.
Anc80, the lead novel Anc-AAV available for sublicensing, is a potent gene therapy vector capable of superior gene expression levels in...
Joseph Arboleda-Velasquez, MD, PhD, and co-PI, Leo Kim, MD, PhD, received a Department of Defense grant in the amount of $1,499,592 over three years, for their project, "Testing the Preclinical Efficacy of Therapies for Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy." They are collaborating on this project with ...
Selecta is licensing Anc80 from Massachusetts Eye and Ear for a rare genetic disease with options on additional pre-specified indications. By combining Anc80 with Selecta’s investigational drug candidate, SVP-Rapamycin (SEL-110), Selecta is seeking to advance a new gene therapy platform designed to avoid several immunogenicity challenges that limit the development of gene therapies today
Watertown, Mass. — Selecta Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical...
Jason Comander, MD, PhD, received a Foundation Fighting Blindness Enhanced Career Development Award in the amount of $510,000 over three years.
Meredith Gregory-Ksander, PhD, received a grant from ONL Therapeutics in the amount of $59,739 over one year to determine whether treatment with a Fas inhibitor can prevent neuroinflammation and the death of RCGs in a mouse model of glaucoma.
