News

Newborns treated with Evrysdi sit unassisted after 1 year

After a year of treatment with oral Evrysdi (risdiplam), 80% of babies with pre-symptomatic spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) were able to sit without support for at least five seconds. The findings met the primary outcome measure of RAINBOWFISH, a Phase 2 clinical trial (NCT03779334) evaluating the therapy…

Zolgensma may improve infants’ nighttime breathing

Breathing disruptions during sleep, which were prevalent in infants with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), tended to improve on Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec) treatment without the need for additional interventions, according to a recent study. The only children who required treatment for sleep disordered breathing were those who had existing…

Antibody levels affecting Zolgensma transient in SMA children

Elevated levels of neutralizing antibodies against AAV9, which can reduce the efficacy of the gene therapy Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec), were uncommon in infants and young children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a study found. It also showed that anti-AAV9 antibody levels, highest in early infancy, declined over…

SMA may affect some cognitive abilities in type 2 and 3 children

Intellectual disability is not common among children with type 2 and 3 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), but some aspects of cognitive function might be impaired in these children, according to a recent study. In particular, performance in specific tasks involving working memory — easily accessible information retained for…

New wheelchair brings changes, discomfort for SMA patient

Michael, a spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) patient who I treat, has had his new wheelchair for about three years, although has had difficulty transitioning into it due to needed modifications. Unfortunately, the chair he had been using stopped working and he was forced to get into the new…

Dosing begins in Phase 2 study of NMD670 for SMA type 3

A first patient has been dosed in a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of NMD670, an oral treatment candidate for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 3, its developer, NMD Pharma, announced. Called SYNAPSE-SMA (NCT05794139), the trial is now recruiting adults, ages 18…