Reliance Life Sciences and IIT Kanpur join forces to revolutionise gene therapy for hereditary eye diseases

-

Kanpur: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, has licensed a pioneering technology to Reliance Life Sciences that has the potential to revolutionise gene therapy for hereditary eye diseases.

It is for the first time a gene related technology has been developed and transferred from an academic institution to a company in India, IIT Kanpur said.

The gene therapy technology from IIT Kanpur will be further developed as an indigenous product by Reliance Life Sciences.

The technology licensing agreement was signed on Friday, 10 March, 2023, between IIT Kanpur and Reliance Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. at a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) exchange ceremony in the presence of several dignitaries, including Professor Abhay Karandikar (Director, IIT Kanpur), and KV Subramaniam (Licensee & President of Reliance Life Sciences).

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with IIT Kanpur to further develop this important technology, Reliance Life Sciences is a research-driven, medical biotechnology company and we are thrilled to collaborate and take forward this innovative technology to commercialisation.” KV Subramaniam said.

Professor Karandikar said: “Gene therapy using viral vectors has recently emerged as a potent tool in the field of molecular medicine. We believe that this technology holds great promise for treating a wide range of hereditary eye diseases including Leber congenital amaurosis, an eye disorder that is present from birth; and Retinitis pigmentosa, a disease causing progressive sustained vision loss.”

Developed by Professor Jayandharan Giridhara Rao and Shubham Maurya from Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering (BSBE), IIT Kanpur, the patented technology modifies the gene of an organism to treat a hereditary disorder.

In this case, the site refers to a specific location on an Adeno-associated virus (AAV) (viral vector) used for gene therapy. The technology modifies this location to optimise its ability to deliver genes to the affected cells and improve its effectiveness. The technology has the ability to improve gene therapy for many hereditary diseases, especially inherited eye diseases. It has shown significant promise in correcting the vision impairment in animal models of blindness.

What is gene therapy?

Gene therapy is one of the most potent applications of recombinant DNA technology wherein pieces of DNA from multiple sources are combined to efficiently deliver the healthy copy of the faulty gene in a manner that production of protein from the introduced gene is sustained for life. To enable this, the therapeutic DNA molecule is delivered using a virus that can infect human cells.

For successful clinical application, several optimisation of the basic process is needed aimed at ensuring adequate expression of the desired gene.

Reliance Life Sciences is developing several gene therapies to address unmet clinical needs. In addition to gene therapies, Reliance Life Sciences is developing a range of human and animal health vaccines and mRNA products.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.



from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/IOoKapB
FP Staff

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Both COVID-19 vaccine doses needed for good protection against B16172 variant

-
It’s been a concerning few weeks in the UK, with the B16172 variant first taking hold and then spreading to become dominant. This more infectious form of the virus, initially identified in India, is what we’re now going to have to live with – unless it is out-competed by another variant in the future. Worryingly, experts had predicted that B16172 might be able to escape some of the effects of vaccines, which if true would threaten to derail the UK’s plans to finish lifting restrictions from the end of June. However, Public Health England (PHE) has looked at the ability of various variants to evade immunity and says that the UK’s vaccines remain effective against the variants circulating, including B16172. On the surface, this looks like good news. But delve a bit deeper, and things get more complicated, says Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. PHE’s research found a little drop-off in protection against B16172 among people who were fully vaccinated.
Read more

New coronavirus variant emerge in India: How should our COVID response change?

-
Image
After genome sequencing of over 10,000 COVID-19 cases in India, researchers have discovered a new variant with two new mutations which may be better at evading the immune system. In 15-20 percent of samples from the Indian state of Maharashtra (the state accounting for 62 percent of cases in the country) a new, double mutation in key areas of the virus has been detected. These are now known as the E484Q and L452R mutations. What makes the variant different? Both these mutations are concerning because they are located in a key portion of the virus – the spike protein – that it uses to penetrate human cells. Spike proteins attach via a “receptor binding domain”, meaning the virus can attach to receptors in our cells. These new mutations include changes to the spike protein that make it a “better fit” for human cells. This means the virus can gain entry more easily and multiply faster. Given what we have seen with other similar mutations , it might also make it harder for our immu
Read more

120 flights delayed, 30 trains running late; Delhi fog & cold wave continue to give shiver to travellers

-
Arrival and departure of 120 flights, both domestic and international, to Delhi airport were affected due to dense fog and cold wave conditions on Wednesday, according to Delhi Airport FIDS (Flight Information Display System). As per the Delhi Airport FIDS, a total of 53 flights, including 21 domestic arrivals, 16 domestic departures, 13 international departures and three international arrivals scheduled are cancelled and not operating due to fog and other operational reasons from and to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the national capital on 17 January. #WATCH | Delhi: Several flight operations delayed at IGI airport due to low visibility amid fog. pic.twitter.com/hG1DUKllEt — ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2024 Visuals from the Delhi airport showed passengers waiting outside, checking update of their scheduled flights. There were also some people waiting for flight of their families, friends and loved ones to arrive, which got delayed due to fog. #WATCH | Delhi | Pas
Read more