Aventis adds vectors to toolkit

When Aventis S.A. restructured its internal gene therapy operations and attenuated its role in its gene therapy partnership with Introgen Therapeutics Inc. in April, the pharma company said the moves were designed to retain its focus on protein therapeutics and vaccines. Last week, the pharma company partnered with BioVex Ltd. to evaluate gene therapy vectors. However, instead of delving back into the gene therapy arena, the deal is more geared to functional genomics research and vaccine development.

Under the first part of the two-pronged deal, AVE will test the ability of BioVex's GenTest NeuroVex vectors to efficiently transduce cells and tissues of the nervous system in order to study the function of genes that may be viable targets for therapeutic intervention. ...