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<DIV>From the <A
href="http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994420">New
Scientist</A>, more coverage of the first cancer gene therapy to be approved.
For the first time, a gene therapy-based treatment has been given the go-ahead
by regulatory authorities. China's medicines authority approved the cancer
therapy after it achieved promising results in a clinical trial. The treatment,
called Gendicine, will be launched commercially in January by SiBiono GeneTech
of Shenzhen, Guangdong province. The results of the trial will be published in
December in China's national medical journal. The Chinese did evaluate this in
considerable detail, so this was not a trivial approval but a serious in-depth
analysis. The treatment consists of an adenovirus designed to insert a gene
called p53. This gene codes for a protein that triggers cell suicide when cells
start to run amok, preventing them becoming cancerous. In 64 per cent of
patients given Gendicine there was complete regression of primary tumours, a
rate three times as great as that in the radiotherapy-only group. Peng hopes the
virus will work against other kinds of cancers too. A <A
href="http://www.nbsc.com/files/press/pr20031105.pdf">PDF file</A> is available
from <A href="http://www.nbsc.com/">NEW BRUNSWICK SCIENTIFIC</A>, who
participated in the development work.</DIV></BODY></HTML>