EP 181: Transforming frustration into breakthroughs in gene therapy with Salvador Rico of Encoded Therapeutics

This week on The Genetics Podcast, Patrick is joined by Salvador Rico, Chief Medical Officer at Encoded Therapeutics. They discuss Salvador’s journey into drug development, his work on gene therapy for X-linked myotubular myopathy, and fundamental challenges and exciting advances in the genetics field.

Show Notes: 

0:00 Intro to The Genetics Podcast

00:59 Welcome to Salvador and how he became involved in drug development

11:01 Frustrations and rewards of the genetics field

13:59 Salvador’s study on gene therapy for patients with X-linked myotubular myopathy (XLMTM)

19:46 Risk of liver issues in gene therapy trials and attempts to mitigate them

24:22 Encoded Therapeutics‘ approach to drug discovery and what motivated Salvador to join the team

27:22 Steps towards therapeutic targeting of gene regulatory elements 

30:04 Advantages of different methods for drug delivery 

32:31 DNA- versus RNA-based therapy

34:56 Insights from approaches in other fields, including psychiatry

36:35 Considerations for using natural history studies

40:32 Expectations and goals for Encoded Therapeutics’ current and upcoming studies

43:17 Closing remarks

Find out more

• Encoded Therapeutics (https://encoded.com/)

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