The biopharmaceutical company Cytokinetics and the nonprofit organization Cure SMA have announced a renewal of their partnership. The partnership aims to increase education and awareness for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), as well as to promote public policy and fundraising efforts that support people who are living with…
Tina and Torence Anderson’s sixth and youngest child, Malachi, came into the world on July 31, 2015. “When he was born, he was normal,” Tina said in a phone interview with SMA News Today. But eight weeks later,…
A child who barely moved in the womb in the final months before his birth and then had multiple bone fractures at birth was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 0, researchers reported. The case study, “Type (0) spinal muscular atrophy associated with fractures at birth,” was…
Destiny McCalvin gave birth to her second child, a girl she named Kenzlee, after what she and her doctors took to be an uneventful pregnancy in 2011. “She seemed like a normal baby; she weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces, no issues,” her mother said. But “issues” soon became clear: “It…
Treating adults with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) with Spinraza (nusinersen) was safe and improved their muscle strength, and motor and respiratory function, among other benefits, according to preliminary research. While treatment with Biogen‘s Spinraza has been demonstrated to be beneficial in children and infants with SMA,…
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) treatment with Biogen’s Spinraza (nusinersen) has resulted in motor milestone achievements in line with normal motor development and continues to provide benefit to infants who began receiving the treatment in a presymptomatic stage of the disease, according to interim clinical trial results. The study, “…
Learning that spinal muscle atrophy was the reason her 15-month-old son couldn’t do what others his age could was a “gut-wrenching” moment, Kristen Farrell recalled in a recent webcast hosted by Biogen. But, as Braeden turned 2, a clinical trial opened for a potential SMA treatment — known then only…
A video game called ACTIVE could be used to monitor changes in motor function in people with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) types 2 and 3, according to a new study. The video game’s measurements aligned with standard tests used to monitor people with SMA, but require less expertise to administer than these…
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) patients transitioning from pediatric to adult care face unmet health needs and possible barriers to health services, according to a study aimed at providing insight into how adults with SMA experience the healthcare system, with a particular emphasis on their transition from pediatric to adult…
Through extensive experiments in cell and animal models of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), investigators have demonstrated the possible usefulness of two protease inhibitors — compounds that stop certain enzymes from degrading proteins — to treat SMA, a study reports. Researchers reported that these two protease inhibitors can increase the levels…
