Larry Luxner,  —

Articles by Larry Luxner

Unity and EU-wide Efforts Focus of Online Rare Disease Meeting

Eurordis, a Paris-based coalition of national rare disease associations across Europe, hosted its first all-virtual conference, bringing some 1,500 delegates from 57 countries together online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 10th European Conference on Rare Diseases & Orphan Products (ECRD2020) — which was set for May 14–15 in…

NORD Webinar Outlines COVID-19 Response on Financial, Policy Fronts

As the number of Americans infected with COVID-19 surpasses one million, it’s no surprise that people with rare diseases — whose immune systems were generally compromised even before the outbreak — are particularly terrified of this pandemic. That fear is evident in an online survey conducted by the National…

Gene Therapy Takes Center Stage at 2019 NORD Summit

With so much recent publicity surrounding gene therapy, it’s no surprise that the topic was a major focus of the recent 2019 NORD Rare Diseases & Orphan Products Breakthrough Summit. From diagnosis and clinical trial design to manufacturing, pricing strategies, and ethical concerns, gene therapy — both its high…

HHS Secretary Alex Azar Touts White House Efforts to Cure Rare Diseases

Despite skyrocketing healthcare costs, President Trump is committed to protecting the 30 million or so Americans with rare diseases and ensuring timely, affordable access to lifesaving treatments, the nation’s highest-ranking health official said. “We have to think about how our financing system can protect those with serious and rare illnesses.

NORD 2019 Rare Disease Summit Set for Oct. 21-22 in Washington, DC

Next month’s annual conference of the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) in Washington, D.C., couldn’t come at a better time, says Marshall Summar, MD, chairman of NORD’s board of directors. “The pace of discovery in rare diseases has gone from brisk to hypersonic,” Summar told BioNews Services, publisher…