STAR-D Gene Therapy

STAR-D Gene Therapy Platform

We have developed a patented gene therapy platform, the Skin TARgeted Delivery platform, or STAR-D, that consists of an engineered HSV-1 vector and skin-optimized gene transfer technology, suitable for introducing into the patient one or more therapeutic genes relevant to treating skin disease.

Our modified HSV-1 is a replication-defective, non-integrating viral vector that can efficiently penetrate a broad range of skin cells. The use of our proprietary, modified HSV-1 as a gene therapy platform has a number of distinct advantages over other viral gene therapy vectors, including: 1) it can be administered topically; 2) it transduces dividing and non-dividing cells, increasing the efficiency of therapeutic gene transfer; 3) it is non-replicating and is diluted by cell divisions, leading to transient transgene expression; 4) its high payload capacity can accommodate large or multiple genes; 5) it allows for repeat administration; and 6) it does not insert itself into, or otherwise disrupt the human genome. The myriad benefits of our engineered vector make the STAR-D platform a suitable choice for the direct and repeat delivery of therapeutic genes to the skin.

STAR-D treatment is simple and direct