4:26 AM
kotesh
The case could be another setback for gene therapy, a field with a troubled history and numerous treatment failures, including the death of a teenager in 1999 in an experiment. The new therapy being tested, made by Targeted Gemetics of Seattle, is a virus-based product injected directly in the joints in hope of relieving active inflammatory arthritis. That chronic condition can affect multiple joints and organs, and it is quite different from the wear-and-tear arthritis that commonly occurs with aging. The patient became ill soon after receiving a second injection, the drug agency said. The date is not exactly clear, but the illness was recognized as a “serious adverse event” last Friday, and the agency immediately suspended the study. That means no more injections can be given. The patient died on Tuesday.
