GENETIC MEDICINE
September 1st, 2004
BY MONICA DOBIE
THE US Food and Drug Administration has cleared the first human trials of a drug designed to work by targeting genes. This so-called RNA interference experimental drug, manufactured by Philadelphia-based Acuity Pharmaceuticals, will be injected into eyes of older patients to test whether it can disable the gene sparking the process of age-related macular degeneration, a deterioration of the retina that is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. RNA interference has been shown to work in laboratories, but not human tests.
THE US Food and Drug Administration has cleared the first human trials of a drug designed to work by targeting genes. This so-called RNA interference experimental drug, manufactured by Philadelphia-based Acuity Pharmaceuticals, will be injected into eyes of older patients to test whether it can disable the gene sparking the process of age-related macular degeneration, a deterioration of the retina that is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. RNA interference has been shown to work in laboratories, but not human tests.
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