News

Most people would be willing to pay to test their newborn baby for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) even if no direct treatment is available for the disease, according to a study published in the journal Pediatric Neurology.

Spinraza (nusinersen) for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) met the primary endpoint in an interim analysis from a Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating the treatment in children with later-onset (consistent with Type 2) SMA. Biogen and Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported that children treated with Spinraza had a highly statistically significant improvement in motor…

The European Medicines Agency (EMA), SMA Europe, and TREAT-NMD network will lead a one-day workshop to discuss, support, and advance development of new therapies to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a neuromuscular disease. The “Spinal Muscular Atrophy Workshop” will be held 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. at…

AveXis reported that the planned pivotal clinical trial of its gene therapy candidate AVXS-101 for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) Type 1 will enroll about 20 patients and will have a single-arm design, with the comparator being the natural disease history. This update follows the Type B meeting Sept. 30 with the…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted Biogen‘s new drug application for nusinersen, an investigational drug for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), for priority review. The company also announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) validated nusinersen’s marketing authorization application (MAA). If nusinersen is approved, it will become…

Developmental milestones such as sitting unaided, rolling, crawling, standing or walking are rarely, even partially achieved by infants with type 1 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), confirms a study published in the scientific journal Neuromuscular disorders.

A spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) collaboration has two Phase 2 clinical trials aligned to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and effectiveness of the investigational drug RG7916 in pediatric and adult patients of Type 2 and Type 3 SMA and in pediatric patients of Type 1 SMA. The SMA development program…

A new saliva-based screening test for the two most commonly inherited genetic disorders, cystic fibrosis (CF) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), is now available through Good Start Genetics, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The test, called VeriYou, costs less than $150. Because one in every 19 people are gene carriers for CF or SMA,…

Studies in different countries have shown that doctors recommend different measures for the care of children with type 1 spinal muscular atrophy. A recent study now shows that factors such as the doctors’ knowledge about the disease, their perceived best interest of the child, and regional context all play a role in recommendations and family…

A team of international researchers developed a revised upper limb module (RULM) to assess arm function in people with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), which can capture progressive muscle weakness even in the weak end of the spectrum and in young children.