Dystrophin Gene Replacement and Gene Repair Therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in 2016: An Interview.

After years of relentless efforts, gene therapy has now begun to deliver its therapeutic promise in several diseases. A number of gene therapy products have received regulatory approval in Europe and Asia. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked inherited lethal muscle disease. It is caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. Replacing and/or repairing the mutated dystrophin gene holds great promises to treated DMD at the genetic level. Last several years have evidenced significant developments in preclinical experimentations in murine and canine models of DMD. There has been a strong interest in moving these promising findings to clinical trials. In light of rapid progress in this field, the Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) recently interviewed me on the current status of DMD gene therapy and readiness for clinical trials. Here I summarized the interview with PPMD.