TS-001229 — Mutations in the Myotonic Dystrophy Protein Kinase gene (DMPK) cause an autosomal dominant inherited disease referred to as Myotonic Dystrophy. Myotonic Dystrophy affects more than 1 in 8,000 people worldwide. Myotonic dystrophy results in progressive muscle weakness, stiffness and wasting. Currently, here are no treatments for this disease. A team of researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have designed short hairpin constructs of AAV-shRNA which can be used to silence DMPK mRNA and therefore potentially treat myotonic dystrophy.

TS-000972 — Natural Killer (NK) cells express a range of receptors to activate or inhibit certain cellular behavior to kill cancer cells. When an NK cell is deficient or dysfunctional, the efficiency of the NK cells is severely limited. VISTA is a protein sequence that activates T cells and acts as a moderator for the immune system. It has low-to-moderate expression but has been the target of study by a team of researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital led by Dr. Dean Lee. By removing VISTA in expanded NK cells, the inhibitory signal will be eliminated and thus resulting in an enhanced ability of NK cells to target cancers and overcome the immune-suppressive signals for improved cancer immunotherapy.

TS-000969 — Gene therapy experts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have made significant advancements in designing optimal viral vectors for producing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-grade viral vector products. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotypes such as AAV1, 2, 2.5, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and rh74 have properties optimized by these researchers. Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cells (CAR T) are comprised of an extracellular antigen recognition domain, intracellular T cell activation and co-stimulatory domains. These cells allow for potent and specific targeting of cancer cells, bypassing the need for antigen presentation and T cell receptor recognition. Generating CAR T cells using the process of lentiviral transduction has limitations stemming from the random integration of transgenesis, where oncogene activation, gene silencing, or negative effects on the CAR T antitumor efficacy are possible.

TS-000852 — Gene therapy experts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have made significant advancements in designing optimal viral vectors for producing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-grade viral vector products. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotypes such as AAV1, 2, 2.5, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and rh74 have properties optimized by these researchers. The new plasmid named pscCMV-luc2P+ has several improvements including modifications that provide a significant improvement in packaging efficiency of AAV vectors, reduction in potential to form replication competent AAV and the inclusion of the ampicillin resistance gene. Dr. Scott Loiler and his team have made additional optimized vectors for AAVrh74, and AAV9 that allow for more efficient purification and improved CNS transduction, respectively.

TS-000851 — Gene therapy experts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have made significant advancements in designing optimal viral vectors for producing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-grade viral vector products. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotypes such as AAV1, 2, 2.5, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and rh74 have properties optimized by these researchers. The new plasmid named pNLRep-Cap1- Kan has several improvements including modifications that provide a significant improvement in packaging efficiency of AAV vectors, reduction in potential to form replication competent AAV and the inclusion of the ampicillin resistance gene. Dr. Scott Loiler and his team have made additional optimized vectors for AAVrh74, and AAV9 that allow for more efficient purification and improved CNS transduction, respectively.

TS-000643 — Gene therapy experts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have made significant advancements in designing optimal viral vectors for producing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-grade viral vector products. Our experts have optimized properties of vectors for a wide variety of Adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotypes, including AAV1, 2, 2.5, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and rh74. In particular, our experts have optimized virus packaging efficiency, reduced potential to form replication competent AAV and replaced the beta-lactam resistant gene with kanamycin in order to be compliant with European Union (EU) regulations. Our experts have made additional optimized vectors for AAVrh74, and AAV9 that allow for more efficient purification and improved CNS transduction, respectively.

TS-000639 — Infectious recombinant Adeno-associated virus (rAAV) are exclusively used as gene transfer vehicles for an ever-widening array of human applications such as for use as vaccines and gene therapy vectors. A requirement for the clinical use of rAAV for DNA delivery is a highly efficient, reproducible and commercially scalable production. The most common methods of scalable rAAV production use HeLa cells. HeLa cells are derived from malignant cervical tumor and therefore, raises potential safety concerns. Gene therapy experts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have developed new methods and materials achieving higher titers of rAAV in mammalian cells other than transformed cancer cells. This invention achieves scalable production of rAAV using clinically safe Vero cells derived from African green monkey kidney cells combined with the simian adenovirus 13 helper virus.

TS-000638 — One of the most promising forms of cancer gene therapy is delivery of genes directly to the tumor to facilitate cancer cell death. Gene therapy experts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have developed a tumor-targeted novel molecular treatment by fusing two genes, Survivin and Granzyme B. Survivin is expressed at high levels in all tumors and Granzyme B induces apoptosis in tumor cells. The recombinant DNA is delivered to the target cells by another agent, such as liposome. This approach represents a universal method for targeting tumor cells that express Survivin and induce death of those cells, leaving minimal effect on healthy cells, unlike conventional chemotherapeutic approaches.

TS-000629 — Gene therapy experts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have made significant advancements in designing optimal viral vectors for producing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-grade viral vector products. Our experts have optimized properties of vectors for a wide variety of Adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotypes, including AAV1, 2, 2.5, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and rh74. In particular, our experts have optimized virus packaging efficiency, reduced potential to form replication competent AAV and replaced the beta-lactam resistant gene with kanamycin in order to be compliant with European Union (EU) regulations. Our experts have made additional optimized vectors for AAVrh74, and AAV9 that allow for more efficient purification and improved CNS transduction, respectively.

TS-000628 — Gene therapy experts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have made significant advancements in designing optimal viral vectors for producing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-grade viral vector products. Our experts have optimized properties of vectors for a wide variety of Adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotypes, including AAV1, 2, 2.5, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and rh74. In particular, our experts have optimized virus packaging efficiency, reduced potential to form replication competent AAV and replaced the beta-lactam resistant gene with kanamycin in order to be compliant with European Union (EU) regulations. Our experts have made additional optimized vectors for AAVrh74, and AAV9 that allow for more efficient purification and improved CNS transduction, respectively.