As Congress begins debate this week to overhaul the U.S. tax code, lawmakers should leave the Orphan Drug Act (ODA) — and the tax incentives it offers pharmaceutical companies to develop therapies for rare diseases — off the table. That’s the message being pushed by the National Organization for…
Myasthenic crisis is a common complication in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG), marked by exacerbation of MG symptoms and respiratory failure. But with the rarity of MG, and its similarity to a range of other neuromuscular diseases, proper detection and treatment might fail, researchers argue. To make it easier for…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug status to ARGX-113, a potential treatment for myasthenia gravis, its developer argenx said in a press release. MG is an autoimmune disease triggered by immunoglobulin G auto-antibodies, or IgGs. They attack critical signaling proteins at the junction between nerve and…
Researchers have found that the drug ONX-0914 halts disease progression in an animal model of myasthenia gravis by altering immune responses. The study, “ONX-0914, a selective inhibitor of immunoproteasome, ameliorates experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis by modulating humoral response,” was published in the Journal of Neuroimmunology. The buildup of…
Scabies infection boosts one’s risk of developing myasthenia gravis (MG), new research from Taiwan shows. The study, “The association between scabies and myasthenia gravis: A nationwide population-based cohort study,” appeared in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. Scabies is an infectious, highly contagious skin disease caused by the mite…
Women with myasthenia gravis (MG) have a poorer quality of life than male patients. That’s the conclusion of a study named “Best Abstract Award” winner at the 2017 American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) Annual Meeting in Phoenix. Specifically, the study, which used Patient Registry data from the…
HanAll Biopharma and Harbour BioMed will develop two new medicines for the treatment of IgG-mediated autoimmune diseases, including myasthenia gravis (MG) and other inflammatory diseases. HanAll will receive $81 million, develop the drugs, and have the right to registration and sales milestones, as well as royalties on net sales. HanAll will…
The cost of Genentech’s myasthenia gravis treatment Rituxan (rituximab) is half that of the blood purification process known as plasmapheresis and a third that of intravenous immunoglobulin therapy over a patient’s lifetime, according to a study. Few health insurance systems reimburse the costs of Rituxan for myasthenia gravis, the researchers noted.
Soliris (eculizumab) continued improving myasthenia gravis patients’ muscle strength and functioning in a 52-week extension of a 26-week Phase 3 clinical trial, researchers reported. Alexion Pharmaceuticals said the extension study covered the same category of participant: patients with refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) who have anti-acetylcholine receptor (AchR) antibodies. The original Phase 3 trial…
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals announced that it will soon begin a Phase 3 clinical trial to assess Firdapse (amifampridine phosphate) in people with myasthenia gravis who are positive for the MuSK antibody. In meetings, the company and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) arrived at an agreement regarding the size, scope and objectives of…
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