News

The amount of neurofilament proteins found in the cerebrospinal fluid, the liquid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, may help doctors better distinguish between adult-onset spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a study found. The two conditions are marked by damage to motor neurons, the…

Treatment with Evrysdi (risdiplam) in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) patients who previously received other therapies was found to safely stabilize motor function and lead to slight improvements in arm function, new clinical trial data show. These results occurred “irrespective of previous treatment,” the researchers wrote, adding that “no…

In adults with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), treatment with Spinraza (nusinersen) in a clinical trial was tolerated well and led to improvements in arm function and self-rated health. These findings add to data from several studies that have examined the safety and efficacy of Spinraza in older patients…

Twin girls with type 0 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) — the most severe form of the disease, which usually leads to death in the first months of life — are alive nearly two years after receiving early treatment with the gene therapy Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi), according to researchers.

GenQA is asking people with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and their families in the U.K. to donate a small blood sample that will help the company determine if newborn screening tests are accurate and reliable. The U.K.-based company, operated by the Oxford University NHS Foundation Trust, provides external…

A pilot study describes how researchers successfully implemented a newborn genetic screening in Osaka, Japan, to identify infants with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) as early as possible. No false-positive results occurred in about 23,000 samples screened in the study; after implementation, newborn screening detected one presymptomatic SMA infant who…

Centogene has launched a new genetic sequencing assay to support faster and more accurate diagnoses of rare diseases, such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Called NEW CentoGenome, the assay combines advanced genetic sequencing with clinical information housed in the company’s rare disease Biodatabank. “As a pioneer…

Unusual mutations in the SMN1 gene, the underlying cause of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), were detected in two young patients using ultra-long read sequencing (ultra-LRS), a method to analyze large segments of DNA. “Our study highlights the importance of ultra-LRS in the clinical application of SMA,” the researchers noted…

Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio has been awarded $1.3 million to optimize palliative care practices for children living with chronic diseases such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The funding comes from the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Palliative care…

Children and adolescents in New Zealand with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) will be able to access Evrysdi (risdiplan) through the country’s publicly funded healthcare system, starting in May. The decision by New Zealand’s Pharmaceutical Management Agency, known as Pharmac, means eligible patients will now have access to two…