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.
In a late-breaking session at the 2016 World Muscle Society Congress in Granada, Spain, Biogen and Ionis Pharmaceuticals presented new data from clinical trials for their co-developed drug candidate nusinersen for treating spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Nusinersen, a potentially disease-modifying SMA therapy, is an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) designed to…
A lack of the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) protein, the gene mutated in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), affected liver development in mice — with liver defects evident before muscle symptoms start showing. The study, “Survival Motor Neuron (SMN) protein is required for normal mouse liver development,” published in the…
Children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) may present symptoms indicative of other genetic disorders, such as Farber disease, according to a case study. Researchers also highlighted the importance of analyzing DNA mutations, in addition to clinical observations, in more accurately diagnosing and treating rare diseases. The study, “Polyarticular Arthritis and…
Biogen has completed its rolling submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the approval of nusinersen for the treatment for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Biogen has also applied for a Priority Review designation which, if granted, means the FDA should…
Researchers have found a promising new drug delivery method for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a degenerative disease that affects the motor nerve cells in the spinal cord of children. Although there is a treatment for this disease, the lack of an effective delivery system is an obstacle for its widespread use.
In this FightSMA video shared in June 2011, meet Dr. Nanci Yuan who is a board certified pediatric pulmonologist and also a sleep medicine physician. Yuan shares about how poor sleep quality affects children with spinal muscular atrophy and their caregivers. Learn all about the new exoskeleton designed to specifically give children who…
International pharmaceutical company Roche, with its SMA drug development collaboration partners PTC Therapeutics and the SMA Foundation, said a clinical study called Moonfish (NCT02240355) that was investigating a compound and investigational medicine known as RG7800 for people with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) was placed on clinical hold in April 2015 after…
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