Most weeks, I toss around column ideas with my friends and family, asking them for advice on what they think could be important or interesting for me to write about. Last week, my husband said, “Umm, how about the fact that you’re heavily pregnant and Alfie is about…
AMRA Medical’s new MRI method was found to play an instrumental role in detecting changes in disease progression among individuals with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) in a recently completed clinical trial, according to the company. The new MRI technique, introduced in the Phase 2b ReDUX4 study, provides…
Welcome back to “Hidden Truths.” This week I wanted to move away from the style of my first and second columns and discuss how one of the most basic emotions relates to muscular dystrophy (MD) and other chronic illnesses. Guilt occurs when a person feels regret or shame in response…
Long-term treatment with Viltepso (viltolarsen) safely and effectively prevents a decline in motor function in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) amenable to exon 53 skipping. Those are the findings of two-year data from a Phase 2 trial of Viltepso, an exon-skipping therapy being developed by…
I recently started watching a YouTube channel called Yes Theory, which inspires people to “seek discomfort.” The cast of the video blog often go on trips to remote parts of the world, perform on the street, or push their bodies to the limit, all in the spirit of being…
Givinostat halted muscle shrinkage and fat infiltration in men with Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) despite failing to ease muscle scarring, compared to a placebo, according to top-line, one-year results of an ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial. “We are very encouraged by the significant difference in muscle fat infiltration…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast track designation to LION-101, an investigational gene therapy that Asklepios BioPharmaceutical (AskBio) is developing as a treatment for limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2I/R9 (LGMD2I/R9). This designation is given to therapies designed to fill an unmet need in medical care for…
“Can some of them get better, Daddy?” a young boy asks his father on the screen. By “them,” he means people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The boy, Theodor Taussig, who also has DMD, wants to believe he is getting better, and hopes as much as one can that…
At its first virtual investor event, biotech company Centogene set a bold mission: to cure 100 rare diseases within the next decade. A leader in the field of genetic diagnostics, Centogene used the June 22 event to present its strategic priorities, outlining its plans to speed the discovery…
Oral losmapimod, an investigational treatment for people with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), showed clinically relevant benefits over a placebo on multiple measures of disease progression and patient-reported outcomes after almost a year, according to data from the ReDUX4 Phase 2b clinical trial. But the therapy failed to reach…
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