Patricia Inácio, PhD, science writer —

Patricia holds her PhD in cell biology from the University Nova de Lisboa, Portugal, and has served as an author on several research projects and fellowships, as well as major grant applications for European agencies. She also served as a PhD student research assistant in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Columbia University, New York, for which she was awarded a Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) fellowship.

Articles by Patricia Inácio

LGMD scientific workshop gathers experts to tackle unmet needs

Patients and experts in limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD), along with drug developers, community leaders, and regulatory agency personnel, came together for the LGMD Scientific Workshop to discuss how to tackle the unmeet therapeutic needs of people with these muscle-wasting diseases. The workshop, held in early February in Maryland,…

Juvena’s JUV-161 named FDA orphan drug for DM1

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given orphan drug designation to JUV-161, Juvena Therapeutics’ lead treatment candidate for myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). Orphan drug status is designed to encourage the development of therapies for rare diseases, or those affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. It provides…

Agamree approved in UK for DMD patients, 4 and older

Agamree (vamorolone) has been approved in the U.K. for treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in patients 4 and older. This approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) follows a similar decision in the European Union. In the U.S., Agamree is approved for patients…

Oral AMO-02 aids muscle, heart health in mouse model of DMD

AMO-02 (tideglusib), an experimental oral therapy for certain muscular dystrophies, showed promise in boosting motor and cardiac muscle health in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). According to AMO Pharma, the treatment’s developer, AMO-02 also improved the animals’ metabolism and cognitive abilities. “These studies…

Mitochondria a likely treatment target to stop MD progression

Blocking the activation of a channel in mitochondria, the cells’ powerhouses, may be a promising way to stop muscular dystrophy (MD) progression in a mouse model of the disease. “We have isolated the primary disease-causing component of muscular dystrophy to the mitochondrial permeability pore,” Jeffery Molkentin, PhD, co-executive director…