Central Nervous System Gene Therapy: Present Developments and Emerging Trends Accelerating Industry-Academia Pathways

The recent success of first central nervous system gene therapies has reinvigorated the growing community of gene therapy researchers and strengthened the field's market position. We are witnessing an increase of clinical trials with long-term efficiency mainly for neurometabolic, neurodegenerative, and neurodevelopmental diseases caused by loss-of-function mutations. The ever-expanding knowledge and accessibility to the most advanced tools allow enrichment of applications to more complex diseases. This gradually contributes toward sealing the gap between top diseases impacting current global health and those toward which gene therapy development is currently aimed. In this study, we highlight innovative therapeutic approaches that have reached the clinics and outline the latest improvements of vector design and targeting. Finally, we address the pressing challenges faced by clinical trials and the direction they are heading.