The search for gene therapies to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has moved in fits and starts over the past two decades, with trials starting and stopping, and their focus shifting to osteoarthritis (OA). One gene therapy trial in OA is under way and another in RA is close to reaching human study, but that’s a year or more away. The road for gene therapies in RA is complicated, costly and fraught with obstacles, as researchers explain it.
But it is also promising, with active research into a host of gene-editing strategies to modulate the immune response and reduce inflammation in RA. Several approaches involve using CRISPR-Cas9 technology to change pathogenic gene alleles into healthy ones or to engineer cells that secrete therapeutic cytokines in response to…