Gene therapy from Voyager improves motor function in Parkinson’s – STAT

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gene therapy from Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR) delivered surgically into the brains of patients with advanced Parkinsons disease reduced their need for standard Parkinsons medications and improved motor function, according to results from a small, early-stage clinical trial reported Wednesday.

Unlike most gene therapies for inherited disease in clinical development, the Voyager treatment does not aim to cure Parkinsons because nothing yet invented can fully prevent the loss of neurons in the brain. Instead, Voyagers gene therapy acts like a biological detour around dead neurons, so Parkinsons patients respond better and longer to levodopa, the standard drug used to keep motor function under control.

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Senior Writer, Biotech

Adam Feuerstein is STATs national biotech columnist, reporting on the intersection of biotech and Wall Street.

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Gene therapy from Voyager improves motor function in Parkinson's - STAT