Nexviazyme (avalglucosidase alfa), a next-generation enzyme replacement therapy, has been approved by Health Canada for people with late-onset Pompe disease ages 6 months and older. “The Health Canada approval of Nexviazyme is an important milestone for Canadian Pompe patients and may represent a new standard of care,” Mark…
treatment
Getting a six-and-a-half-hour enzyme replacement infusion once a week can be stressful. And I’m not even the one getting it. My son, Cayden, 3, gets an infusion called Lumizyme (alglucosidase alfa) to treat his infantile-onset Pompe disease. While the infusions have become routine for…
Training with continuous positive airway pressure therapy, known as CPAP, may help to normalize speech abnormalities in children with Pompe disease, a small pilot study shows. Certain outcomes, including the speech intelligibility score (SIS), “were significantly improved” over the course of the six-month study, but as two of the…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reviewing applications from Amicus Therapeutics asking for the approval of AT-GAA as a treatment for late-onset Pompe disease (LOPD). Amicus initiated a rolling application for AT-GAA late last year, which allowed the company to submit portions of its application as…
A new U.S. initiative called Rare Disease Cures Accelerator–Data and Analytics Platform — dubbed RDCA–DAP — aims to accelerate treatment innovation across rare diseases by sharing existing patient data and promoting the standardization of new data collection. Launched during a virtual workshop in September, the U.S. Food and Drug…
A new enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) targeting specific cell types boosts the delivery of acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA) — the enzyme missing or defective in Pompe disease patients — to muscle and heart cells, a study shows. Compared to standard ERT, the targeted approach by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals normalized the…
Adults with late-onset Pompe disease in the U.K reported a long and distressing diagnostic process, with most patients calling in interviews for a reduced time to diagnosis, a shorter wait for a specialist appointment, and an earlier treatment start, a study found. At diagnosis — which often came only…
A newly launched non-profit institute is seeking to advance research, and the development of new therapies, for people with rare diseases — a patient community with some of the largest therapeutic needs, but one that is often left behind. Named the Institute for Life Changing Medicines, the project was…
We are no strangers to our insurance company. While it’s been great in most aspects, we still have to battle it from time to time. Unfortunately, this happens quite often with rare disease patients. Due to his infantile-onset Pompe disease, my 3-year-old son, Cayden, has to…
Starting treatment with enzyme-replacement therapy (ERT) in the first days of life appears to lessen the risk of hearing impairments in children with infantile-onset Pompe disease (IOPD), researchers report. “Our study may enhance awareness of early intervention before hearing-related morbidities can develop in patients with IOPD,” its researchers…
Recent Posts
- Wanting to blend in, so the rare care isn’t the first thing that’s seen
- Home enzyme replacement therapy safe for Pompe disease children
- What ‘lucky’ really means for a child with Pompe disease
- Infantile Pompe brain changes may begin long before signs appear
- 1-time gene therapy cuts need for enzyme treatments for Pompe children