The world's first gene therapy drug for the treatment of ischemia developed in Russia was presented to the European Society for Vascular Surgery at the annual congress of the European Society of Vascular Medicine in Bergamo.
Rafael Manvelyan, Professor of the National Institute of Health of Armenia, presented “The plasmid that cures” report to the congress participants. The report was dedicated to the mechanism of action of Neovasculgen based on recombinant plasmid DNA, which stimulates formation and growth of collateral vessels. The drug was developed by Nextgen (part of Artgen Biotech group, MOEX: ABIO) and started a new area in medicine — therapeutic angiogenesis (therapeutic growth of vessels). Rafael Manvelyan adheres to a complex approach in the treatment of chronic vascular diseases, combining open and closed surgical interventions with the use of therapeutic angiogenesis.
Sergey Dale, Nextgen General Director: “Rafael Manvelyan's report greatly interested European vascular surgeons. Very few of them knew that the first-in-class gene therapy drug is already used in the routine practice of Russian vascular surgeons in a country of 150 million people. A number of surgeons not only showed interest in a drug that was new for them, but also expressed interest in participating in the third stage of the clinical study launched in Russia on the use of Neovasculgen for the treatment of patients with diabetic foot disease. This study may soon become international.”
Neovasculgen® is the world first approved gene therapy drug used in practical healthcare to treat ischemia of lower extremities, included into the EML list, national recommendations, federal clinical-statistical groups, Moscow OMI programme. As the effect of drug is based on activation of microvessel tree growth, it has a potential to treat a number of diseases, where it is needed to make the vasculature denser, including diabetic foot disease, interstitial cystitis, androgenetic alopecia. Nextgen works on expansion of its indications for use.
Nextgen JSC is a resident of Medtech, Lomonosov cluster of Innovation Science and Technology Center of Moscow State University Vorobyovy Gory. The company deals with the development and implementation of gene therapy drug.