Marathon Pharmaceuticals has announced pivotal Phase 3 data evaluating the investigational drug deflazacort for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in the journal Neurology. The study results show that deflazacort demonstrated significant improvement in muscle strength compared with placebo in 12 weeks. In addition, results show that deflazacort was associated with less weight gain than . . .
Osaka-based Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma announced today that its New Drug Application (NDA) for the drug edaravone to treat people with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) was accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Japanese pharmaceutical company said it expects a decision on whether it can market the drug in the United States by June 16, 2017. . . .
Researchers are looking for boys and men living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, ages 12 years and older, to participate in a phase 2 clinical trial, sponsored by FibroGen, to test the experimental drug FG-3019 (pamrevlumab). The study, known as “MissionDMD,” is designed to help researchers evaluate whether FG-3019 is safe and effective in people with . . .
Every August is Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month, and this year we have a lot to celebrate. At the beginning of August, Biogen and IONIS Pharmaceuticals announced encouraging results from a late-stage clinical trial testing an experimental drug for infants with SMA type 1. The drug is called nusinersen and is designed to increase production . . .
Steven Markus, assistant professor at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $300,000 over a period of three years to study alterations in the dynein gene and their effects in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). His work to elucidate the molecular basis for dynein . . .
Natalia Rodríguez Muela, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., was awarded an MDA development grant totaling $179,985 over a period of three years to deepen our understanding of what goes wrong in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a progressive disease caused by low levels of SMN protein. The work will focus on how . . .
In an MDA-supported worldwide study, researchers found that surgical removal of an organ called the thymus reduced muscle weakness and lowered the need for drugs that suppress the immune system in people with myasthenia gravis (MG). MG is an autoimmune neuromuscular disease that causes varying degrees of muscle weakness and fatigue. Initial treatment typically . . .
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted Marathon Pharmaceuticals’ New Drug Applications for deflazacort for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and granted Priority Review. Deflazacort, a glucocorticoid, works as an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant. In the United States, the drug is considered an investigational therapy, as it has not been approved by . . .
Researchers are looking for boys and men, ages 5 to 18 years, to participate in a natural history study that is designed to assess the potential of imaging techniques to monitor disease progression and serve as an outcome measure for clinical trials in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Both healthy volunteers and individuals with DMD are . . .
In a joint statement today, Biogen and Ionis Pharmaceuticals announced encouraging interim results from the late-stage ENDEAR clinical trial to test the experimental drug nusinersen in infants with type 1 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Based on the results, investigators have stopped the trial to allow all participants to transition into an open-label trial called SHINE, . . .
