News

The Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI) recently created a Rare Disease Diversity Coalition focused on reducing racial disparities in the rare disease community. Getting a timely and accurate diagnosis for a disease that few people — sometimes even physicians — have heard of is challenging on its own merit. But…

Seelos Therapeutics and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are continuing to discuss the use of Sanfilippo syndrome natural history data as a control for a pivotal U.S. study of the investigational SLS-005 (trehalose) treatment. The biopharmaceutical company also has submitted requests for…

While the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic won’t have much of an impact on cash available for new biotech startups, it has begun to cause delays in the development of gene therapies to treat a variety of rare diseases. That’s the consensus of industry experts who spoke in a May 26 webinar…

Cure Sanfilippo Foundation has granted $380,000 to the New York-based biotechnology company Phoenix Nest to support the development of the first-ever gene therapy to treat children with the rare genetic neurodegenerative disease Sanfilippo syndrome type C…

European authorities must step up efforts to screen babies for a multitude of genetic disorders, a panel of experts suggested during a May 14-15 online medical conference. The session was part of the 10th European Conference on Rare Diseases & Orphan Products (ECRD2020) — which was to have occurred…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted rare pediatric disease designation to Seelos Therapeutics‘ SLS-005 (trehalose) to treat Sanfilippo syndrome, the company has announced. The designation is granted to product applications for diseases that affect fewer than 200,000 children, 18 and younger, in the U.S. and provides certain…

Dara Riva always had a rule that her 10-year-old son could play video games only once a week. But then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and her perspective changed. Riva’s son, Maximilian, has cystic fibrosis (CF), making him particularly susceptible to COVID-19 and the complications that can arise from it.

Eurordis, a Paris-based coalition of national rare disease associations across Europe, hosted its first all-virtual conference, bringing some 1,500 delegates from 57 countries together online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 10th European Conference on Rare Diseases & Orphan Products (ECRD2020) — which was set for May 14–15 in…

Eurordis, a Paris-based coalition of national rare disease associations across Europe, hosted its first all-virtual conference, bringing some 1,500 delegates from 57 countries together online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 10th European Conference on Rare Diseases & Orphan Products (ECRD2020) — which was set for May 14–15 in…

Healthcare technology company RDMD has raised $14 million to further expand its platform seeking to accelerate research and treatment development for rare diseases, including Sanfilippo syndrome. The Series A financing was led by Spark Capital, with participation from Lux Capital, Village Global,…