News

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of a rare disease film festival originally slated for May, its organizers set out to find a new way to bring the films to an audience. Co-founders Daniel DeFabio and Bo Bigelow, who are both fathers of children…

Excessive levels of estrogen associated with hormone therapy changes and risk factors such as smoking may lead to porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) in transgender women, a case study reported. The findings add to the increasing body of evidence highlighting the higher risk of skin problems in transgender women on long-term…

Severe lack of hydroxymethylbilane synthase (HMBS) — the defective enzyme in people with acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) — led to abnormalities in mitochondria essential for cellular energy, and to depression-like symptoms in a mouse model of the disease, a study reports. The study, “Severe hydroxymethylbilane synthase…

Antiviral treatment can prevent the onset of porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) in people with hepatitis C and urine abnormalities indicating this form of porphyria, a study found. The study, “Resolution of subclinical porphyria cutanea tarda after hepatitis C eradication with direct‐acting anti‐virals,” was published in the…

The EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases has launched a nationwide National Burden of Rare Disease Survey to measure the full implications, economic and social, of living with rare disease in the United States. People with rare diseases know that the impacts of such conditions extend beyond just medical…

People with acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) who were treated with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’ RNA-based therapy Givlaari (givosiran) experienced a rapid and lasting reduction in porphyria attacks — and most remained attack-free for the first six months of the ENVISION trial’s extension study. In addition, no new…

The Alexion Charitable Foundation has awarded $1.1 million in grants to programs that support those with rare diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization recently announced. The grants will support activities that align with the foundation’s Rare Belonging focus, a set of funding priorities aimed at improving the…

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has awarded a total of $270,000 to seven patient advocacy groups, including the American Porphyria Foundation (APF), in the company’s Advocacy for Impact grants program. The second annual program, designed to help advocacy groups address unmet needs in rare diseases, will be funding projects that look to promote…

People with acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) who were treated with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’ RNA-based therapy Givlaari (givosiran) had a 74% reduction in porphyria attacks and sustained decreases in toxic products over six…

The Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI) recently created a Rare Disease Diversity Coalition focused on reducing racial disparities in the rare disease community. Getting a timely and accurate diagnosis for a disease that few people — sometimes even physicians — have heard of is challenging on its own merit.