AGT Announces Collaboration with Internationally Recognized Leader in Medical Genetics
JERRY VOCKLEY, MD, PHD COLLABORATES WITH AGT ON PHENYLKETONURIA (PKU)
ROCKVILLE, Maryland. (May 13, 2016) – American Gene Technologies International, Inc. (AGT) today announced its collaboration with Jerry Vockley, MD, PhD, chief of the Division of Medical Genetics at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Cleveland Family Professor of Pediatric Research at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. This collaboration will serve to accelerate AGT’s advancements in innovative genetic therapy for Phenylketonuria (PKU) and other inherited metabolic disorders.
“This collaboration is a major step forward in developing a solution for PKU,” said AGT CEO Jeff Galvin. “Dr. Vockley’s decades of research, paired with our groundbreaking technology using lentiviral vectors, is reason for great optimism for people suffering from PKU and other metabolic diseases.”
Dr. Vockley is a highly respected thought leader in the field of genetic research as a result of his internationally acclaimed work in medical genetics and inborn errors of metabolism. He has published more than 190 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals. His laboratory has been responsible for identifying and characterizing the molecular basis of multiple new inborn errors of metabolism. The National Institutes of Health has awarded Dr. Vockley continuous funding since 1992 to support his important work.
“The rapidly growing field of gene therapy represents a paradigm shift in medicine,” Dr. Vockley said. “AGT’s innovative approach to gene therapy puts us on the brink of fundamentally transforming how we treat diseases. This work points to a near-term future where diseases once thought to be untreatable can be successfully treated and even cured. I am excited to join AGT in accelerating this research.”
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in biology at Carnegie-Mellon University, Dr. Vockley went on to receive his medical degree and doctorate in genetics from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed his pediatric residency at the University of Colorado Health Science Center, and his postdoctoral fellowship in Human Genetic and Pediatrics at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. Before assuming his current position in Pittsburgh, Dr. Vockley was Chair of Medical Genetics in the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine.
In collaboration with Dr. Vockley and The Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, AGT has begun developing a genetic drug candidate to treat PKU. In addition to PKU, AGT currently has preclinical drug candidates for HIV/AIDS, Liver Cancer, and Familial Dysautonomia (FD) and is doing investigational work on breast cancer and Parkinson’s disease.
