(CBS Baltimore)
November 8, 2019 at 10:18 pm
ROCKVILLE, Md. — A Maryland medical company has submitted an application to the U.S Food and Drug Administration for a gene therapy it says will eliminate HIV.
American Gene Technologies in Rockville said based on lab tests, the single-dose gene therapy has a “high potential” to be effective.
The company said the therapy, AGT103-T, is a genetically-modified product made from a person’s own cells that focuses on repairing damage to the immune system caused by HIV.
“Our aim is to treat HIV disease with an innovative cell and gene therapy that reconstitutes immunity to HIV and will control virus growth in the absence of antiretroviral drugs,” the company’s chief science officer C. David Pauza said.
The company expects to start a phase one clinical trial in humans in January.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says 1.1 million people in the U.S. have HIV.