News

New therapies that target the complement pathway — a type of immune response that involves the production of antibodies — could help improve the treatment of cold agglutinin disease and other hemolytic anemias, a review study says. Clinical trials testing such therapies are recruiting patients. The article, “…

Acute kidney injury triggered by excessive alcohol intake was described for the first time by Japanese researchers in a patient with cold agglutinin disease (CAD). The case was reported in the study “Acute Kidney Injury by Renal Hemosiderosis Secondary to Primary…

Off-label treatment with Soliris (eculizumab) was well-tolerated and lessened hemolysis — red blood cell destruction — and transfusion requirements in patients with cold agglutinin disease (CAD), a Phase 2 trial showed. The study, “Eculizumab in cold agglutinin disease (DECADE): an open-label, prospective, bicentric, nonrandomized phase 2…

Treatment with Soliris (eculizumab, marketed by Alexion) can effectively reverse cold agglutinin disease (CAD) attacks and induce rapid clinical remission, a case report shows. The study, “High efficacy of eculizumab treatment for fulminant hemolytic anemia in primary cold…

Sutimlimab, an antibody against complement C1, increases hemoglobin levels in patients with cold agglutinin disease and prevents blood transfusions, a first-in-human trial shows. The study, “Inhibition of Complement C1s improves severe hemolytic anemia in cold agglutinin disease: a first-in-human trial” was published in the journal Blood. Autoimmune…

With the U.S. midterm elections now less than two weeks away, patient advocacy groups are solidly focused on a range of hot-button issues, from the Orphan Drug Tax Creditand affordable health insurance to future funding for rare disease research. Yet “whether Democrats take over the House or Senate, or…

Half a year has gone by since disgraced pharma executive Martin Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for securities and wire fraud while heading San Diego-based Retrophin. As founder and CEO of another company (then known as Turing Pharmaceuticals), in late 2015 Shkreli bought the rights…

More than 700 medical experts, pharmaceutical executives, patient advocates, and others are expected to converge on Washington, D.C., next month for the 2018 NORD Rare Diseases & Orphan Products Breakthrough Summit. The Oct. 15-16 event, sponsored by the National Organization for Rare Diseases (NORD), takes place at the…

As President Trump signed the recently passed Right to Try legislation into law in a White House ceremony, Jordan McLinn of Indianapolis tried twice to embrace him. The third time, 9-year-old Jordan finally got the hug he wanted — as well as a kiss on the forehead. The video of…

Finding treatments and potential cures for rare diseases is crucial, but so is the quality of patients’ lives — a rather nebulous term that means different things to different people. “Recently, there’s been much more of a focus on Quality of Life (QoL) issues, real-world evidence and patient-reported outcomes,” said…