New British biotech firm to tap gene therapy for blindness

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New British biotech firm to tap gene therapy for blindness

Oxford scientists have set up a biotechnology company to develop the use of gene therapy in treating blindness, and the Wellcome Trust medical charity has invested 12 million pounds ($20 million) in the start-up. NightstaRx plans to develop and sell therapies for retinal dystrophies - degenerative conditions affecting vision - by building on work carried out at the University of Oxford's Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, it said on Thursday. Oxford-based researchers reported two weeks ago that an early-stage clinical trial using gene therapy had shown promise in a handful of patients with a progressive form of blindness called choroideremia. The company has an exclusive licence to the intellectual property underpinning the Oxford gene therapy programme.

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