News

The European Commission has approved Agamree (vamorolone), a dissociative corticosteroid — a treatment expected to have fewer side effects than standard steroid medications — for patients ages 4 and older with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The decision applies to all member states of the European Union, plus Iceland,…

In October, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Agamree (vamorolone) for treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients ages 2 and older, offering them a more tolerable, but similarly efficacious, oral corticosteroid option. Clinical trial evidence indicates Agamree might ease muscle damage and minimize the side effects…

The HOPE-3 clinical trial testing Capricor Therapeutics’ experimental cell therapy CAP-1002 for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) can continue as planned, the company announced. That’s the result of an interim futility analysis, which evaluates whether it is mathematically possible for a trial to achieve its goal — if not, the trial…

Corticosteroids may cause fewer unwanted brain changes in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) if they are given on and off at 10-day intervals, rather than at daily doses, an imaging study found. “Brain volumetrics [volume measurements] are more profoundly affected in patients treated with a daily corticosteroid…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted both orphan drug and rare pediatric disease designations to Edgewise Therapeutics‘ EDG-5506 as a potential treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). EDG-5506 also was awarded FDA orphan drug status for Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) as a possible…

Growth hormone (GH) or testosterone can better protect against spinal fractures than a common osteoporosis medication alone in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) or severe Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD), according to a long-term study. Used to prevent or lessen osteoporosis, or weak and brittle bones, zoledronic acid (ZA) is…

NS Pharma has opened a program for people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), and their caregivers and family members, to share insights that might help others living with this most common form of muscular dystrophy. Called Duchenne Heroes, it relates the experiences of patients and…

Epic Bio’s epigenetic therapy EPI-321 has been granted an orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment for one of the most common forms of muscular dystrophy in adults, called facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). The designation is given to medications that…

Satellos Bioscience is hoping to bring SAT-3247, its newly nominated lead treatment candidate for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), into clinical trials next year. The company announced that it’s working to establish a good manufacturing practice (GMP) setup to make the medication, and is in the midst of experiments…

The expression of a protein called ACTC1 in muscle fibers is critical for muscle repair — and vital to the survival of transplanted human muscle stem cells — a new study shows. These findings may have important implications for the development of cell therapies for muscular dystrophy and other…