News

US Patient Groups Give Thumbs-Up to Rule Against Surprise Billing

The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) is applauding the Biden administration for announcing a rule to protect consumers from surprise medical billing, in a joint statement with 26 other U.S. patient organizations. The interim final rule will implement patient protections required by the No Surprises Act. Surprise…

Partnership Aims to Lower Out-of-Pocket Costs for Rare Disease Meds

AllianceRx Walgreens Prime, a specialty and home delivery pharmacy, is partnering with TailorMed, a healthcare technology company, to help lower out-of-pocket prescription costs for specialty pharmacy patients. Medications attained through specialty pharmacies are those used to treat rare and chronic conditions in the U.S., and are often extremely costly. For…

Nominations Open for 2022 Eurordis Black Pearl Awards

Nominations are now open for the worldwide 2022 Black Pearl Awards from Eurordis-Rare Diseases Europe. The 12 award categories recognize individual advocates, policy makers, researchers, organizations, and companies who work to make a difference for the global rare disease community. The deadline for nominations is Sept. 10…

FRAXA Supporting Work Into Drug Repurposing to Treat Depression

The FRAXA Research Foundation is supporting a project to identify available medicines that might be repurposed to treat major depressive disorder (MDD) in people with fragile X syndrome. Depression occurs frequently among people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), of which fragile X is the most common genetic cause.

FDA OKs Phase 2 Trial Design for Xanamem

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given positive feedback to Actinogen’s pre-investigational new drug (pre-IND) submission regarding Xanamem, its experimental oral therapy for fragile X syndrome. In a written response following a pre-IND meeting with Actinogen, the FDA agreed the data gathered and the proposed trial design…

Events Local and Global Marking July, Fragile X Awareness Month

From posting yard signs to swapping out exterior lighting, people across the U.S. are poised to mark Fragile X Awareness Month, observed each July. A global day — July 22 — is also set aside, with illuminations worldwide helping to call attention to the genetic disorder. Awareness and education…

EveryLife Introduces First of Kind ‘Roadmap’ to ICD Codes

To help patient advocacy leaders and their partners better understand how global health statistics codes — known as ICD codes — are assigned, updated, and revised in the U.S. health information system, the EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases is presenting a first-of-its-kind resource guide. The foundation created the…