Marisa Wexler, MS, senior science writer —

Despite broad initiatives seeking improvements, the time it takes an individual with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) to get a correct diagnosis has remained largely unchanged over the past three decades, a study reports. It still takes more than two years, on average, from the time symptoms are first noticed…

Treatment with the breast cancer medicine tamoxifen improved the functionality and survival of heart muscle cells in a cellular model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a study reports. The study, “Tamoxifen treatment ameliorates contractile dysfunction of Duchenne muscular dystrophy stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes on bioengineered substrates,” was published…

The Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital (HDVCH) in Michigan has been recognized as providing the highest quality of care for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Located in Grand Rapids, the hospital has become the first in the state to receive a certification from Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy…

An international team of scientists has developed a novel exon-skipping therapy mixture that has the potential to treat more than 40% of people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The therapy was described in a study, “Development of DG9 peptide-conjugated single- and multi-exon skipping therapies for the…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given Pfizer the go-ahead to open U.S. sites for the Phase 3 CIFFREO clinical trial, testing the experimental gene therapy PF-06939926 in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The FDA had placed a hold on Pfizer’s application to start the trial in…

A new natural history study that seeks to collect information about how Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) progresses in the absence of treatment is now enrolling. The study is being led by the GRASP (General Resolution and Assessments Solving Phenotypes) consortium and Virginia Commonwealth University, its primary sponsor. Also collaborating…

The European Commission is expected to propose a new governing framework for health data next month, called the European Health Data Space (EHDS), with the aim of connecting national health systems to facilitate secure and efficient transfer of data across systems in different European nations. The move is expected to…

When it comes to making decisions about how care goals should change for adolescent and young adults with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) as the disease progresses, informal conversations among family members are more common than discussions with clinicians, according to a study based on interviews with DMD patients and…

Four boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) show improved motor function and walking ability three years after being given the experimental gene therapy SRP-9001 in a Phase 1 clinical trial, new data reveal. The findings were presented in a poster, titled “Phase 1/2A Trial of Delandistrogene…

Boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) treated with the experimental gene therapy SGT-001 in the IGNITE DMD clinical trial continue to show improvements in motor and lung function after two years, according to new data presented at this year’s Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Annual Meeting. “What we see…