Human Gene Therapy Journal Expands to Cover Clinical Development in Early 2013

Oct. 12, 2012 - PRLog -- Contact: Vicki Cohn, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., (914) 740-2100, ext. 2156, vcohn@liebertpub.com

Human Gene Therapy Journal Expands to Cover Clinical Development in Early 2013

New Rochelle, NY— Human Gene Therapy (http://www.liebertpub.com/hum) is expanding its editorial coverage with the launch of Human Gene Therapy Clinical Development early next year. The Journal will provide a critical forum for publishing data relevant to the regulatory review and commercial development of cell and gene therapy products. Editor-in-Chief James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, outlines his vision for this new resource in an Editorial (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/hum.2012.2520) in the October issue.  Barry J. Byrne, MD, PhD, University of Florida, Gainesville will assume the role of Clinical Development Editor. Human Gene Therapy and its other sister publication, HGT Methods, are published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com).

“Scientific journals value and preferentially publish paradigm-changing papers.  However, in areas of novel therapy development such as gene and cell therapy, standard data such as toxicology, vector distribution, time course of gene expression, and vector persistence are essential and valuable information,” says Yuman Fong, MD, Murray F. Brennan Chair in Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Chair of the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC).  “The initiation of a Journal such as Human Gene Therapy Clinical Development aimed at publication of such data is a forward-thinking project that will speed translation of novel vector and cell systems to accepted therapies for human disease.”

HGT Clinical Development published in print and online, will include pre-clinical papers focusing on pharmacology/toxicity/bio-distribution experiments used in the review of proposed clinical trials and will contain sufficient information to allow referencing between products within the same technology platform when appropriate. Recognizing the importance of all clinical data in the formative stages of the field, the Journal will publish clinical trials of gene and cell therapy including those which are confirmatory or negative.  Coverage will include pre-clinical animal and in vitro studies to assess the safety of gene and cell therapy products used to support clinical applications; production and characterization data of gene and cell therapy products; selected clinical protocols which describe first-in-human applications of cell and gene therapy; and topical issues related to the commercial development of gene and cell therapy products.


About the Journal
Human Gene Therapy (http://www.liebertpub.com/hum), the Official Journal of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (http://www.esgct.eu), British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy, French Society of Cell and Gene Therapy, German Society of Gene Therapy, and five other gene therapy societies is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly in print and online. Led by Editor-in-Chief James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, Director of the Gene Therapy Program, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Human Gene Therapy is a peer-reviewed journal presenting reports on the transfer and expression of genes in mammals, including humans. Related topics include improvements in vector development, delivery systems, and animal models, particularly in the areas of cancer, heart disease, viral disease, genetic disease, and neurological disease, as well as ethical, legal, and regulatory issues related to the gene transfer in humans.   Its sister journal, Human Gene Therapy Methods (Thierry VandenDriessche, PhD, Free University of Brussels, Methods Editor) published bimonthly, focuses on the application of gene therapy to product testing and development. Tables of content and a free sample issue may be viewed online on the Human Gene Therapy website (http://www.liebertpub.com/hum).

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com) is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, Tissue Engineering, Stem Cells and Development, and Cellular Reprogramming. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website (http://www.liebertpub.com).