News

Q&A With RARE-X Disease Data Platform Founder, Nicole Boice

The nonprofit RARE-X is creating an easily-accessible, centralized data hub for all rare disease patient data that can help researchers answer questions about existing disorders, discover new ones, and work toward finding treatments. It was spun out of the work that Nicole Boice, founder and chief engagement officer of…

Rare Disease Day Events Bring Awareness, Equity to Patients

Since 2008, Rare Disease Day — the last day of February — has brought together patients, caregivers, family members, friends, and advocates from around the world to raise awareness and improve equity for the more than 7,000 known rare diseases that affect more than 300 million people. In 2022, the…

Catalyst Plans to Request FDA Extend Use of Firdapse to Children

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals is planning to request that the approved use of Firdapse in the U.S. be expanded to include children with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS). The company also announced, as part of its “patient first” commitment, an intention to sustain established access programs so that anyone with LEMS seeking…

Judgment in Favor of Catalyst Vacates FDA Approval of Ruzurgi

A federal appeals court in the U.S. has issued a mandate that effectively vacates the 2019 regulatory approval of Jacobus Pharmaceutical’s Ruzurgi for the treatment of children with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS). The ruling, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, directs a lower district court…

NORD’s RareLaunch Platform Now Offering 2 New Courses

The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) has expanded its hands-on tools and courses for organizations focused on rare diseases, such as Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS). Supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, NORD’s RareLaunch program provides patients and caregivers with the tools necessary to launch a nonprofit. It also…