News

Cure SMA has announced two additional grants to its current round of basic funding for research into spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) — a move that will boost the organization’s budget for grants to $1.03 million this year. The investment, which follows growing support from families, researchers, pharmaceutical firms and regulatory partners,…

In the roughly four months since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Spinraza (nusinersen) to treat all types of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in both children and adults, dozens of hospitals and clinics across the nation have begun dosing patients. Yet insurers are reluctant to pay for…

Blocking a protein receptor called m2R may prevent motor neuron death, leading to new therapies for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), according to a study. The research, “Decreased microRNA Levels Lead To Deleterious Increases In Neuronal M2 Muscarinic Receptors In Spinal Muscular Atrophy Models,” was published in the online journal…

The nonprofit advocacy group Cure SMA has awarded Christine DiDonato a $140,000 grant to study how specific proteins reduce force production and endurance in muscles affected by spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). SMA is a childhood disease that occurs in one of 10,000 births. It is characterized by degeneration of the motor neurons in the…

A crucial two-hour meeting between AveXis executives and officials of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will determine the next step for AVXS-101, a spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) treatment that has shown remarkable promise in a Phase 1 trial of babies with SMA type 1 — the most severe form of this muscle-damaging disease.

A new test that can detect the risk of having children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) will be commercialized in a joint effort by the two companies, SYNLAB and Counsyl. SYNLAB will offer Counsyl’s proprietary Expanded Carrier Screening (ECS) test under the tradename preconGEN. The test will be offered…

The patient advocacy group Cure SMA will host a webinar May 4 on access to Spinraza (nusinursen), the first drug ever to be approved to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The webinar will cover several topics, including the current status of Spinraza dosing at U.S. administration sites, commercial and government insurance policies, trial…

A Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating Spinraza (nusinersen) in children with type 2 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) may play a decisive role in whether private insurers cover the treatment in later-onset SMA patients — those with type 2 and type 3. The study was the focus of an Emerging Science…

Results from the first clinical trial of AVXS-101, a gene therapy for infants with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 1, reveal dramatically improved survival as well as motor skills in most of the babies involved in the drug’s first clinical trial. Data presented by AveXis at the six-day AAN 2017 Annual Meeting — which…

Spinraza (nusinersen), a treatment for most forms of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), took a major step forward to becoming available across the European Union, with the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommending its approval. CHMP is a branch of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the equivalent of…