News

GIVI-MPC earns FDA orphan drug designation to treat DMD

GIVI-MPC, a stem cell therapy to create new muscle in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), has been designated an orphan drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Orphan drug status encourages the development of therapies for rare diseases — those affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S.

MDA Shamrocks fundraising campaign takes the field for 2023

Thousands of retailers across the U.S. are helping the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) kick off MDA Shamrocks, its annual fundraising campaign in support of those living with muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and other neuromuscular disorders (NMDs). Money raised through the effort — said to be…

AOC 1020 wins FDA’s orphan drug status for treating FSHD

AOC 1020, Avidity Biosciences’ investigational therapy for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), has been granted orphan drug status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The designation is intended to encourage the development of therapies for rare diseases, those affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. It provides…

Breathing changes during sleep noted in children with DM1

Nearly half of the 24 children with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) in a French study showed signs of poorer nighttime respiration, reflected by rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. These increases in CO2 did not significantly associate with the presence of sleep apnea — when breathing repeatedly starts and…

Muscle MRI Correlates With FSHD Children’s Functional Measures

Whole-body muscle MRI correlates with functional measures in children with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) and might help evaluate disease severity, according to a study. “This study demonstrates that MR muscle imaging is a potential biomarker of disease staging in pediatric FSHD,” the researchers wrote in “Correlation between whole body…

DN-TNF Therapy Reduces DMD Muscle Damage, Spurs Growth

A new dominant-negative tumor necrosis factor (DN-TNF) treatment reduced muscle damage and promoted muscle regeneration in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), according to INmune Bio. The research is part of a collaboration between INmune and Armando Villalta, PhD, a professor at the University California, Irvine…