Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGMO), announced on March 6, 2014 the presentation of data from its SB-728-T program to develop a “functional cure” for HIV/AIDS at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2014). The conference was held in Boston from March 3 to 6, 2014. Data from an earlier Phase 1 clinical study in this program were also published in the March 6, 2014 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine(NEJM) (see BioQuick story below). "The achievement of over 7 months of ongoing functional control of viral load without antiretroviral therapy and the progress that we are making in understanding how to best deploy this novel therapy are very exciting," commented Gary Blick, M.D., AAHIVS, Medical & Research Director, CIRCLE CARE Center, who presented the data at CROI and is an investigator on both studies that were reported at the meeting. "The data that have been generated over the course of the clinical investigation of SB-728-T demonstrate immune reconstitution, enhanced survival of the zinc finger nuclease-modified T-cells in the presence of the virus, and associated reductions in viral load and the levels of viral reservoir, all of which are necessary to provide functional control of the virus." At CROI, data were reported from a Phase 1 /2 clinical trial, SB-728-1101, designed to evaluate the effect of increasing doses of Cytoxan preconditioning as a method to increase the numbers of circulating T-cells, including cells that were zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) modified at the CCR5 gene (SB-728-T). The data demonstrate that increasing doses of Cytoxan preconditioning prior to a single infusion of SB-728-T led to a dose-dependent increase in both engraftment of CCR5-modified cells and notable increases in total CD4 cells above the baseline.Login Or Register To Read Full Story