News

Rare Disease Groups in US Join in Plea for Care Across State Lines

Over 230 national organizations signed a letter urging all 50 U.S. state governors to “maintain and expand” flexibility with licensure requirements for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic to ease access to care. During the pandemic, governors used emergency authority to waive certain state licensure requirements, giving healthcare providers…

Nova Seeks Orphan Drug Status in US for Psilocybin, Hallucinogenic Therapy

Nova Mentis has filed an application for orphan drug designation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for psilocybin, its investigational psychedelic therapy for fragile X syndrome. Recently, psilocybin received orphan drug designation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which offers financial incentives for potential rare disease treatments. Nova also…

UC Davis Institute Offers COVID-19 Vaccines in Clinic Tailored for Fragile X

Many COVID-19 clinics are large, crowded, and on the boisterous side, which can be overwhelming for people with fragile X syndrome and other neurodevelopmental disorders needing to go there for vaccination. Such concerns led the UC Davis MIND Institute in Sacramento, California, to open a custom-designed clinic for vaccine administration. The…

Global Genes, Diversity Coalition Team Up to Advance Health Equity

Global Genes has partnered with the Rare Disease Diversity Coalition (RDDC) to advance health equity for rare disease patients and caregivers in underrepresented communities of color. “For rare disease patients, there are many challenges — and for people of color with a rare disease, these challenges are compounded…

Rare Disease Diversity Coalition Awards $600K to Combat Disparities

The Rare Disease Diversity Coalition (RDDC) awarded $600,000 in grants to ease the disparities faced by rare disease patients of color. These Impact Rare Disease Solution grants will go five RDDC steering committee working groups, which aim to identify problems for rare disease communities and advocate for solutions. The five…

‘Rare’ Documentary in Kickstarter Campaign to Raise $45K by Oct. 28

A crowdfunding campaign aims to raise $45,000 to support “Rare,” a documentary film featuring the struggles and achievements of people living with rare diseases and their families. Sweis Entertainment and Digital Cave Media launched the campaign — allowing filmmakers to finish producing and to release the documentary — on Kickstarter.

CTH120 Medication Granted Orphan Designation in EU

Connecta Therapeutics‘ CTH120 molecule has been granted orphan designation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for treating fragile X syndrome, the leading cause of hereditary intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders. The company said it intends to begin human clinical trials as early as next year to test …

New Data-sharing Program Aims to Speed Innovation in Rare Diseases

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…