Sangamo Therapeutics treated its first patient in the Phase 1/2 clinical trial (“the CHAMPIONS study“) evaluating SB-913, an investigational in vivo genome editing therapy for people with MPS II, Hunter syndrome.
Sangamo aims to treat MPS II by using genome editing to insert a corrective gene into a precise location in the DNA of liver cells with the goal of enabling a patient’s liver to produce a lifelong and stable supply of an enzyme he or she currently lacks.
“Even with regular infusions of ERT, which has markedly improved functional health outcomes, patients endure progressive damage to heart, bones and lungs. Many patients with MPS II die of airway obstruction, upper respiratory infection or heart failure before they reach the age of 20,” said Paul Harmatz, M.D., a pediatric gastroenterologist and a principal investigator for the CHAMPIONS study at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, where the first subject in the study was treated.
For more information, visit Sangamo’s website.