Clinical Development of Gene Therapies: The First Three Decades and Counting

In the past three decades the field of gene therapy has made remarkable progress, surging from mere laboratory experiments to Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved products that bring significant reduction in disease burden to patients who previously had no therapeutic options for their serious conditions. Herein, we review the evolution of the gene therapy clinical research landscape and describe the gene therapy product development programs evaluated by the FDA in Investigational New Drug applications received in 1988–2019. We also discuss the clinical development programs of the first six oncolytic and gene therapy products approved in the United States.