The Gene Therapy Program Preclinical Vector Core in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has been awarded a Gene Therapy Resource Program (GTRP) contract for a third consecutive five-year period from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The mission of the GTRP is to translate gene therapy research to the clinic. The $13 million contract will support the Core, which is directed by internationally renowned expert in gene therapy James M. Wilson, the Rose H. Weiss Professor and director of Penn’s Orphan Disease Center, and a professor of medicine and pediatrics, by providing preclinical vector production, analytics and immunology services to approved scientific investigators from Penn and other institutions.

“The field of gene therapy is finally hitting its stride, and this is exactly the time for the NIH to be providing a robust infrastructure to promote the rapid acceleration of discoveries into clinical trials,” Dr. Wilson said. “The NHLBI is well positioned to do so through the GTRP, which we are delighted to participate in by providing high quality, state-of-the-art vectors for pre-clinical studies.”

The Core disseminates novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors to researchers around the world. AAVs are small virus particles with a genome of single-stranded DNA that infect humans and some other primate species. AAVs are not currently known to cause disease. Recombinant AAV vectors are based on AAV viruses that have been engineered to express genes of interest including therapeutic genes for the treatment of inherited or acquired disease.

Over its first 10-year period of GTRP support, the Core completed over 100 requests for research-grade vector production and 10 requests for immunology services for developing gene therapies for a wide range of disorders, including cardiovascular, blood, lung, genetic and infectious disease.