News

Experimental Gene Therapy May Be Safe and Effective, Early Data Shows

Experimental gene therapy 4D-310 continues to be generally safe and has effectively increased enzyme alpha-galactosidase (Gal A) blood levels in the first three patients enrolled in 4D Molecular Therapeutics’s clinical trial. These results were announced in the presentation “An Open-label, Phase 1/2 Trial of Gene Therapy 4D-310 in…

#RAREis Representation Program Promotes Equity, Diversity

Horizon Therapeutics has launched its #RAREis Representation program aimed at increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion among patients with rare diseases. There are about 400 million people worldwide living with a rare disease; for many of them, access to diagnosis, care, and treatments can be challenging. Accessing better care depends on…

Approval of PRX-102, Plant-based ERT for Adults, Sought for Europe

Protalix BioTherapeutics and its partner Chiesi Global Rare Diseases have applied to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the approval of PRX-102 (pegunigalsidase alfa), an investigational enzyme replacement therapy, to treat adults with Fabry disease. This approval request, in the form of a marketing authorization application, has been validated by the EMA and now…

Rare Disease Day Panel Opens Window to Patient Experience

Bionews, the publisher of this website, hosted a virtual panel discussion on Rare Disease Day 2022, taking a deeper dive into what it’s like to live with a rare disease, including conversations about advocacy, mental health, survivor’s guilt, treatment of minority patients, and more. The Monday event, “A…

ERT Before Age 16 May Slow Classic Fabry Progression

Beginning enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) before age 16 is associated with reduced kidney and heart damage — relative to no treatment — in males with classic Fabry disease, according to a small study from the Netherlands. These early findings, concerning 10 years of treatment with Fabrazyme (agalsidase beta),…

Q&A With RARE-X Disease Data Platform Founder, Nicole Boice

The nonprofit RARE-X is creating an easily-accessible, centralized data hub for all rare disease patient data that can help researchers answer questions about existing disorders, discover new ones, and work toward finding treatments. It was spun out of the work that Nicole Boice, founder and chief engagement officer of…

Rare Disease Day Events Bring Awareness, Equity to Patients

Since 2008, Rare Disease Day — the last day of February — has brought together patients, caregivers, family members, friends, and advocates from around the world to raise awareness and improve equity for the more than 7,000 known rare diseases that affect more than 300 million people. In 2022, the…