News

Researchers have determined that video-assisted thoracic surgery to remove a thymoma — a tumor in the thymus — is a safe and effective surgical method. The study, “Video-assisted thoracic surgery for thymoma: long-term follow-up results and prognostic factors—single-center experience of 150 cases,” was published in the Journal of…

Treatment with cannabinoids improved muscle function in a mouse model of myasthenia gravis (MG), suggesting they may have therapeutic potential for the disease, researchers say. The study, “Cannabinoid-induced increase of quantal size and enhanced neuromuscular transmission,” appeared in the journal Scientific Reports. Cannabinoids regulate multiple levels of neuronal communication,…

The European Commission has granted orphan drug status to argenx’s myasthenia gravis therapy ARGX-113 (efgartigimod), which is designed to rein in the overproduction of antibodies that damage junctions of nerve and muscle cells. U.S. regulators gave the therapy an orphan drug designation in October 2017. Autoimmune disorders like myasthenia…

Results of a Phase 1 clinical trial showed that the investigational therapy GTP-004 significantly reduced the side effects associated with the myasthenia gravis (MG) medication Mestinon (pyridostigmine). GT Biopharma, the therapy’s developer, plans to accelerate the development of GTP-004 by initiating a Phase 2 trial in myasthenia gravis…

Myasthenia gravis patients appear to have lower levels of vitamin D than the general population, a study confirmed. The confirmation suggested that doctors need to monitor patients’ vitamin D levels to reduce the chance they will have additional autoimmune responses that can worsen their condition, the researchers said. Their study,…

Blood levels of a microRNA called miR-150-5p have been identified as a potential biomarker for AChR-positive myasthenia gravis, after surgical treatment was found to reduce its levels in a study. The study, “Thymectomy lowers the myasthenia gravis biomarker miR-150-5p,” was published in the journal Neurology…

Genetic sequencing and the speed with which it can help diagnose a child’s disease — in addition to revealing the genes that cause at least half of the 7,000 rare diseases currently known — was the focus of a discussion by three top New York geneticists. The Feb. 28 conference,…

When it comes to rare diseases, one that definitely makes the list is spinal muscular atrophy with respiratory distress — SMARD,  for short. Hunter Pageau, a 12-year-old boy from North Haven, Connecticut, is one of only 80 people in the world known to have SMARD, a motor neuron disease…

Quality of life among myasthenia gravis (MG) patients is worse in women than men, but removing the thymus in women eliminates this disparity, a recent study shows. The study, “Gender and Quality of Life in Myasthenia Gravis Patients from the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America Registry,” appeared…

In his 10 months on the job, Commissioner Scott Gottlieb of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is earning praise for his efforts to make clinical trials for new therapies more flexible and responsive to the needs of rare disease patients. From cystic fibrosis to epidermolysis bullosa, the FDA…