A gene-therapy medicine has been given commercial approval in Europe for the first time.

The treatment, Glybera, is designed to help those suffering from lipoprotein lipase deficiency -- an inherited disorder which sees patients unable to break down fats and can lead to life-threatening pancreatitis attacks.

Glybera -- the brand name for alipogene tiparvovec -- works on the genetic level by using a virus to implant working copies of the lipoprotein lipase gene into muscle cells, thus enabling production of the enzyme in those cells.

The first country to approve a gene therapy for commercial use was China in 2003 but gene therapy in Europe has, until now, been restricted to research laboratories.

Jorn Aldag, CEO of Glybera creators UniQure, said: "The final approval of Glybera from the European Commission marks a major step forward in making gene therapies available not only for lipoprotein lipase deficiency, but also for a large number of rare diseases with a very high unmet medical need."

The treatment is expected to come to market in 2013.

Image: Shutterstock

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First commercial gene therapy approved for Europe

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