Maternal gene therapy for placental insufficiency

Developing therapies for diseases of pregnancy is an important but challenging task. Despite maternal and perinatal conditions making up 7% of the global burden of disease, there are few or no evidence-based treatments for diseases of pregnancy such as fetal growth restriction, pre-eclampsia and preterm labour.1 There is also a ‘drought’ of new therapies in development. This is partly as a result of industry underinvestment but also because there are many ethical and regulatory barriers to carrying out clinical trials in pregnant women.2