Posted on: 22 January 2016, source: BCM Families Foundation
Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq:AGTC), a biotechnology company conducting human clinical trials of adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapies for the treatment of rare eye diseases, and the BCM Families Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on eradicating Blue Cone Monochromacy (BCM), today announced a collaboration to develop an AAV-based gene therapy for the disease. Blue Cone Monochromacy, also known as X-linked achromatopsia, is a rare genetic disease of the retina that almost exclusively affects males. It is a hereditary condition linked to the X chromosome that manifests with a partial dysfunction of the cones of the retina. BCM can result in reduced visual acuity, impaired color vision, photosensitivity, myopia and infantile-onset nystagmus. These manifestations are similar to those in achromatopsia, caused by mutations in the CNGB3 or CNGA3 gene, for each of which AGTC has ongoing clinical development activities.