Genetherapy

Cardiovascular diseases represent the major cause of death in the developed world. However, the development of novel therapeutics for cardiovascular disease is seriously falling behind other major organ systems and oncology as expressed by the respective number of new therapies that are in clinical testing. In particular, in the development of novel treatments that are based on gene therapy or other advanced therapeutic modalities, the cardiovascular system has experienced significant barriers, like lack of efficient targets, immunological interference, and relatively inefficient gene delivery to target cells in the heart and blood vessels. These translational barriers have prevented effective therapeutic development on a large scale.