CNS and ocular gene‑therapy moves: non‑addictive pain therapy and intravitreal delivery pact

Academic and industry groups reported gene‑therapy advances in two distinct domains. University of Pennsylvania researchers published in Nature a cortical gene‑therapy approach that mimics opioid analgesia in mice without addictive effects, combining circuit‑targeted gene delivery and AI‑driven behavioral readouts. Separately, U.K. biotech Ikarovec partnered with VectorBuilder to engineer intravitreal AAV capsids aimed at office‑based delivery for intermediate AMD—an early‑stage collaboration described as potentially worth over $1 billion if executed.