September is Newborn Screening Awareness Month, and today, Sept. 7, is World Duchenne Awareness Day, dedicated to spreading knowledge about Duchenne muscular dystrophy. As we honor both, we’re providing an update on our work to ensure every state in the US screens babies at birth for DMD, leading to improved outcomes and longer, stronger lives. . . .
Ryan Colburn is a rare disease patient with a professional background in engineering and operations management, spending portions of his career working on racecars, airplanes, and rockets. Diagnosed with Pompe disease in 2015, he has spent the time since learning about rare disease topics including research, advocacy, and drug development to better understand how to . . .
In April, MDA fielded a survey to ask its community how COVID-19 was impacting their lives. We heard your responses — anxiety, questions, hope — and wanted to know more. In this six-part blog series, Hacking COVID, people from MDA’s community, all living with neuromuscular diseases, shared how they’ve altered their day-to-day lives, how they’ve . . .
Several biotech and pharma companies presented interim results at the 24th Annual Congress of the World Muscle Society (WMS) held earlier this month in Copenhagen, Denmark. This roundup covers a few of these updates. Catabasis Pharmaceuticals presented positive results from its phase 1/2 MoveDMD trial and open-label extension with edasalonexent in boys with Duchenne muscular . . .
Researchers at Amicus Therapeutics are looking for adolescents (age 12-18) with late-onset Pompe disease (LOPD) to participate in a phase 3 study. The goal of the study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ATB200/AT2221, which researchers hope may improve muscle function and respiratory function compared to the standard of care. Participants will be . . .
Thanks in large part to the work of MDA advocates across the country, the US House unanimously moved yesterday to pass the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act (HR 2507). Once enacted, this law will reauthorize the national newborn screening program for five years and make additional investment in order to modernize and make improvements . . .
On May 2, Reps. Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40), Mike Simpson (ID-02), Katherine Clark (MA-05), and Jaime Herrera-Beutler (WA-03) introduced the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act of 2019, a key piece of legislation that fights to eliminate preventable newborn deaths and stave off the onset of symptoms associated with severe disabilities, including neuromuscular conditions. Read MDA’s . . .
Earlier this week, JAMA Neurology published an article co-authored by Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) staff members that addresses the role of newborn screening (NBS) in the field of neuromuscular disease. In the article, “Maximizing the Benefit of Life-Saving Treatments for Pompe Disease, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Through Newborn Screening: Essential Steps,” the . . .
On Feb. 25, Amicus Therapeutics announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted breakthrough therapy designation (BTD) to AT-GAA, Amicus’ investigational combination drug therapy ATB200/AT2221 for treating late-onset Pompe disease. The company’s combination drug therapy pairs ATB200, a synthetic human acid alpha-glucosidase enzyme meant to replace the missing enzyme in Pompe disease, with pharmacological chaperone AT2221, . . .
Researchers at Amicus Therapeutics are looking for adults with late-onset Pompe disease (LOPD) to participate in a Phase 3 study. The goal of the study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ATB200/AT2221, which researchers hope may improve muscle function and respiratory function compared to the standard of care. Participants will be randomized to . . .
