Several other approaches for attacking the disease, such as gene therapy, are also under development.
For all Genzyme's stability, its gene therapy research might represent a kind of Achilles' heel.
Previous attempts in academic trials to harness gene therapy have, at times, had disastrous results.
The gene therapy team at Great Ormond Street Hospital was highly critical of the study.
It is working on better protein-based drugs, gene therapy, industrial enzymes, and ag-biotech.
Such a treatment killed 18-year-old Jesse Gelsinger in 1999 in a gene therapy experiment.
It is the first time that gene therapy has been used successfully to treat cancer.
It is hoped that gene therapy will have fewer associated side effects by targeting cancer cells.
Despite the slow progress, Dr High says she is optimistic about the future of gene therapy.
ECONOMIST: The prospects for using genes as a therapy may be improving
Gene therapy attempted to transport altered genes into the body to help fight specific diseases.
In the area of gene therapy, progress has been slow, but in some cases remarkable.
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But scientists still face the challenge of developing the necessary gene therapy and targeting tumours with it.
There are other new techniques that may also act to spur the stalled field of gene therapy.
Fundamentally, gene therapy supplies the body with healthy genes to compensate for missing, deficient, or defective genes.
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It is a gene therapy for a rare disease which leaves people unable to properly digest fats.
If, for instance, schizophrenia is something you can inherit, then it may be susceptible to gene therapy.
Richard Gregory , Genzyme's vice president of gene therapy, argues that the company's use of adenovirus is safe.
Glaxo will also work with the Italian researchers to develop the gene therapy for six other rare diseases.
The Ziopharm-Intrexon deal gives Kirk an opportunity for a payday no matter what happens with the gene therapy.
Professor Nevin said that cancer was always seen as a possible side-effect of this type of gene therapy.
For instance, its 30 scientists are investigating gene therapy with a view to developing a cure for diabetes.
Many of gene therapy's other problems have been with the vector that carries the gene, usually a virus.
ECONOMIST: The prospects for using genes as a therapy may be improving
Another benefit, says Mark Kay, a researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine, could come for gene therapy.
The deal marks a remarkable turnabout for both big pharma and gene therapy.
The patients received gene therapy through a small incision made in the chest.
Gene therapy could be the most complex biologic of all, reckons Dr High.
ECONOMIST: The prospects for using genes as a therapy may be improving
's clinical trial of a gene therapy in patients with advanced heart failure.
Though outright cures are still elusive, gene therapy "is beginning to emerge as a meaningful clinical" strategy, says Stephen J.
The gene therapy program is spread across three of Genzyme's four divisions, each of which has its own tracking stock.
Also in the 1990s, Novartis cut back on its gene therapy effort after gene therapy trial for cancer failed badly.
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