A Genetic Lottery - a Column by Becky Field

Aitia and UCB team up to develop novel Huntington’s treatment

The biopharmaceutical UCB and Aitia have joined forces to accelerate the development of a novel Huntington’s disease treatment. The collaboration will harness Aitia’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology to identify new targets and therapies for Huntington’s that will be further validated using UCB’s expertise in treatment research and…

Machine learning may help in predicting likely rate of progression

Using machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence, researchers were able to cluster people with Huntington’s disease into three groups based on the speed at which the disease progresses, a study showed. “Machine learning approaches such as this could be considered for application in real-world clinical practice to support…

SAGE-718 named orphan drug in EU for Huntington’s disease

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted orphan drug status to SAGE-718 as a potential therapy for Huntington’s disease. The experimental therapy is being developed by Sage Therapeutics for treating cognitive impairment associated with Huntington’s and other neurological disorders. Orphan drug status is given to treatments with the potential to improve…

FDA approves once-daily formulation of Austedo for Huntington’s chorea

Austedo XR, a new extended-release formulation of Austedo (deutetrabenazine) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat adults with chorea — involuntary muscle contractions — associated with Huntington’s disease. Austedo XR contains the same active agent as the original therapy, but is taken just once a day, with…

HDSA awards over $2M in grants to Center of Excellence network

The Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA) is awarding 56 grants totaling more than $2 million to expand its Centers of Excellence network, which is dedicated to providing comprehensive care to people with Huntington’s disease. Dartmouth–Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire joins last year’s total of 55 grant-funded Centers of Excellence. The…

Spark, Neurochase Collaborate on Brain Delivery Technology

Spark Therapeutics and Neurochase have joined forces to develop Neurochase’s proprietary delivery technology for gene therapies that target neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntington’s disease. The technology, called Convection Enhanced Delivery (CED), allows for a controlled delivery of gene and other therapies directly into specific brain regions with the…

Effects on Different Neurons May Explain How Symptoms Evolve

In Huntington’s disease, neurodegeneration in a brain region called the striatum differs not only across different types of neurons, but also across distinct striatal compartments, according to a study of brain samples from a Huntington’s patient and mouse models. The striosomes, the striatal compartment involved in regulating mood, was more…