The Zolgensma gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy, which was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in May 2019, has now received a positive review by the European Medicines Agency. Pending approval by the European Commission, it is expected to be available to treat babies and young children across the EU soon. Spinal muscular atrophy is a rare and often fatal genetic disease that causes muscle weakness and progressive loss of movement.

Llft BioSciences Ltd of the UK has teamed up with King’s College London to create a new version of its cell therapy for cancer which uses a special type of neutrophil to attack solid tumours. The cell therapy is still in preclinical development, but the company will work with the university to develop a new version using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). It believes the iPSC version will be easier to manufacture and will deliver significant cost savings to patients.