News

Researchers have found that skeletal muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) correlates with motor function and can help predict the degree of functional deterioration in patients with Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD). A study with that finding, “Muscle MRI and functional outcome measures in Becker muscular dystrophy,” was published in the…

Through Dec. 31, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) will match all donations to expand its ongoing Gene Therapy Initiative in an effort to raise $400,000 to fund research projects seeking to advance gene therapy as a treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Gene therapy has been increasingly studied…

Researchers found that giving Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients glucocorticoid therapy keeps them mobile for a longer period of time and reduces their risk of dying. Their study, “Long-term effects of glucocorticoids on function, quality of life, and survival in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a prospective cohort study,”…

Clay Matthews of the Green Bay Packers took to the field in Week 13 of the NFL season wearing a cause close to his heart on his feet, as he joined the football league’s “My Cause My Cleats” campaign to raise funds for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). “My…

Karen Haberberg, a New York portrait photographer, has taken tens of thousands of pictures throughout her career of families, couples, pregnant women, teenagers, and fashion models — not to mention dramatic landscape shots from Iceland to Indonesia. She’s also done several personal photo projects including “Benjamin,” a haunting portrayal…

Solid Biosciences announced the pending start of a first clinical trial to test the company’s leading investigational therapy – called SGT-001, a microdystrophin gene transfer candidate, as a potential treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The Phase 1/2 trial, called IGNITE DMD, will soon open for patient enrollment in the…

Capricor Therapeutics has received a green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to launch a Phase 2 study of CAP-1002 cell therapy in children and adults with advanced Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Capricor expects to open the trial to patient enrollment in early 2018 and, if successful,…

The first healthy subject was dosed in a Phase 1b clinical trial evaluating the safety, tolerability and drug properties of ELX-02 as a candidate for the treatment of multiple conditions, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The multiple ascending dose (MAD) study (NCT03309605) is being led by Sevion…

Benitec Biopharma has submitted an application for orphan drug designation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its lead gene therapy candidate, BB-301, for the treatment of oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD). If granted, the orphan drug status will guarantee seven-year market exclusivity upon treatment approval, but…

Duchenne UK has teamed up with five pharmaceutical companies to start Project HERCULES, a  collaboration aimed at persuading the national health insurance system to cover new Duchenne muscular dystrophy therapies. Ensuring that patients obtain access to innovative therapies is a two-part challenge. The first is obtaining regulatory approval of the drugs.