Cash-strapped governments across the 28-member European Union are struggling to control runaway healthcare expenditures — at exactly the same time as the promise of new but expensive therapies to treat rare diseases has never been greater. That’s the paradox faced by pharmaceutical companies as well as patient advocacy groups in…
News
Manifestations of Pompe disease — its suspected signs or symptoms — can mimic diagnostic findings of a rare type of amyloidosis, a case study reports. The report, “Pompe Disease Could Mimic Exam Findings of Amyloidosis: Two Rare Diagnoses Bona Fide,” was published in the journal, Case Reports…
A research team in Korea has developed a new method using rice to produce lab-made human acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA) for the treatment of Pompe disease. Their findings were published in the study, “N-glycan Remodeling Using Mannosidase Inhibitors to Increase High-mannose Glycans on Acid α-Glucosidase in Transgenic Rice…
Early treatment with a four times higher dose of Myozyme (alglucosidase alpha) was safe and enabled normal motor development and normalization of markers of muscle damage and disease progression in a boy with classic infantile-onset Pompe disease, according to a study. The study, “Early…
Frequent inspiratory muscle training — a set of breathing exercises to strengthen the respiratory muscles making it easier to breathe — enhanced the breathing capacity of late-onset Pompe disease patients with insufficient respiratory function, a small pilot study has found. The study, “Safety and efficacy of short- and long-term…
Most patients with juvenile- and adult-onset Pompe disease have difficulties coughing that put them at an increased risk for respiratory problems, but few of them incorporate techniques of pulmonary hygiene into their daily routines, a small study suggests. The study, “Cough Effectiveness and Pulmonary Hygiene…
Lower activity of the two lysosomal enzymes underlying Pompe and Fabry diseases — acid alpha-glucosidase enzyme (GAA) and alpha-galactosidase A (GLA) — is linked to dilated arteries in the brain, a preliminary study reports. The study, “Association of Low Lysosomal Enzymes Activity With Brain Arterial Dilatation,” was…
Long-term interruption of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) can lead to negative outcomes for late-onset Pompe disease patients, affecting their lung and exercise capacity as well as quality of life, a Swiss retrospective study shows. However, for most patients, resuming ERT can help restore the key clinical parameters that deteriorated during the pause…
Sanofi Genzyme and PerkinElmer Genomics have launched the Lantern Project, a comprehensive genetic testing program that aims to overcome the barriers to diagnosing rare diseases, such as Pompe disease. Rare, inherited disorders can be quite challenging to diagnose because they often are mistaken for more common diseases,…
Low-dose treatment with methotrexate can reduce the immune reaction that often accompanies enzyme replacement therapies in infants with Pompe disease, researchers report. Their study, “An immune tolerance approach using transient low-dose methotrexate in the ERT-naïve setting of patients treated with a therapeutic protein: experience in infantile-onset Pompe…
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