(Jul. 3rd) From Emilia-Romagna to Austria following a thread of hope. Yesterday night, the flaps of skin genetically modified, then transplanted in the morning at the Dermatology Clinic of the University of Salzburg by the team of prof. Johann Bauer and dr. Josef Koller on a patient suffering from Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa, better known as Butterfly Children when they are very young, a connective tissue disease of the skin, left from the Center for Regenerative Medicine “Stefano Ferrari” of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. “The transplant performed in Austria is the result of a long international collaboration in which we’ve been involved for many years with key researchers in the world to fight this terrible disease,” said Professor Graziella Pellegrini, Cell Therapy Program Coordinator at the Center for Regenerative Medicine “Stefano Ferrari” of the Unimore. “For sure, the trial resumption is a step forward, but it will still take a few months before we know if we will be able to achieve the desired results, so at the moment it is a must to act with caution.” The one performed in Austria was the second gene therapy operation in the world of based on genetically corrected epidermal stem cells, after the other one completed in in 2005 by the team of Professor Alberto Giannetti on a patient suffering from the same disease, using the technology developed by the team of researchers led by Professors Michele De Luca and Graziella Pellegrini at the Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Policlinico. After this first clinical success, which excited scientists around the world and whose results have been constant to date – according to a note – the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia worked hard to expand the testing to other patients and develop new viral vectors for the treatment of other forms of Epidermolysis Bullosa.
