Government announces child-blindness gene therapy trial

The government has announced that a gene therapy trial – funded by one million pounds from the Department of Health – has been launched to investigate a potential treatment for blindness in children.

With a team including eye surgeon James Bainbridge and retinal specialist Professor Tony Moore, the team will be led by Professor Robin Ali and involve both children and adults experiencing progressive deterioration in vision caused by a gene defect.

At present there is no effective treatment available for the condition that affects the normal functioning of the retina, with the technique being tested involving the use of a vector for insertion of normal copies of genes into the back of the eye via an operation.

Lord Hunt, health minister, said: “This new trial is a global first of its kind and could mean the ability to restore sight to children with this condition.

“The UK leads Europe in gene therapy, with over 40 per cent of clinical trials and we are second only to the US.”

He added that investment into gene therapy had been sparked by a genetics white paper in 2003, with these clinical trials on the NHS being introduced as a result.

In December 2006, the government announced the creation of 11 biomedical research centres of excellence, with 450 million pounds of funding to investigate conditions including blindness, HIV, asthma, cancer and heart disease.