Andrea Lobo,  —

Health Canada has approved Vyvgart (efgartigimod alfa-fcab) to treat adults with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) who are positive for antibodies targeting the acetylcholine receptor (AChR), the most common target of MG-causing antibodies. The approval is based on positive data from the Phase 3 ADAPT clinical trial (NCT03669588),…

Folia Health is expanding the use of its smartphone app for gathering self-reported patient health data to people with myasthenia gravis (MG) and other neurological conditions. Patients’ daily experiences will contribute to obtaining comprehensive data on disease progression and treatment response, which are expected to contribute to improving…

Pregnant women with myasthenia gravis (MG) are particularly susceptible to severe disease-related complications, usually caused by generalized muscle weakness, which can put the mother and child at risk, according to a recent review study. Newborns should also be monitored for symptoms of transient neonatal MG, a form of…

Patterns of facial weakness can be quantified with facial recognition software and computer models and used to diagnose and monitor myasthenia gravis (MG), a study finds. “This study delivers a ‘proof of concept’ for a [deep learning] model that can distinguish MG from [healthy controls] and classifies disease…

Composition of the fungal species present in the gut — known as the fungal gut microbiota — does not differ significantly between people with myasthenia gravis (MG) and those with other neurological disorders or healthy people. That’s according to an analysis of the fungal gut microbiota of participants in…

Ad Scientiam has launched a program to develop and validate new digital biomarkers for self-assessing patients with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG). The launch was announced on Rare Disease Day, Feb. 28, and is supported by Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease. “Easy-to-use digital tools have the potential to generate reliable…

Thymus removal surgery is generally safe for the majority of elderly people who have myasthenia gravis (MG), a study in China found. In fact, all patients ages 65 and older in the study were safely discharged and did not need to stay longer in the hospital. Nonetheless, according to…

Post-operative myasthenic crisis is a dangerous complication after thymus removal surgery for people with myasthenia gravis (MG) who had no tumor in their thymus, according to researchers who set out to identify factors that increase this risk in a recent study. They determined risk factors to be: having a…

A protein called CD59 might protect the neuromuscular junction — the place where nerve cells come into contact and communicate with muscle cells — from the harmful action of the body’s immune system in myasthenia gravis (MG) patients, a study in Japan suggests. “CD59 overexpression might be required for…

The presence of anti-titin antibodies, a type of blood protein, in patients with thymoma-associated myasthenia gravis (MG) is related to more frequent hospitalizations, a study in South Korea has found. Thymoma is a type of tumor occurring in the thymus gland, a small organ in the chest that…