Genzyme gene therapy for people with peripheral artery disease failed in a clinical trial to help them regain some mobility

Score another one in the loss column for gene therapy. Cambridge, MA-based Genzyme said yesterday at a medical meeting that its gene therapy for people with peripheral artery disease failed in a clinical trial to help them regain some mobility.

The trial—one of the largest in the field of gene therapy—enrolled 289 patients who were injected with either a placebo or a low, medium, or high dose of Genzyme’s gene therapy treatment, researchers said at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Orlando, FL. The treatment, designed to deliver a copy of a gene called HIF1a, was supposed to help stimulate the growth of new blood vessels around clogged arteries in the legs, improving circulation and allowing people with severely limited mobility to walk for longer periods of time.