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Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients in Australia age 12 and older, who have two copies of the F508del mutation in the CFTR gene (a copy inherited from each parent), now can be treated with Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Symdeko (tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor). The treatment also was approved for any mutation in the CFTR gene that responds to Symdeko based on lab…

Blocking the enzyme cathepsin S can alleviate symptoms and reduce lung damage in cystic fibrosis (CF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to multinational teams led by researchers at Queen’s University Belfast, U.K. The findings on CF were reported in the study “Targeting of Cathepsin…

Like scores of runners everywhere, when Joshua Skampo gets home from work, he pulls on his running shoes and heads out into the dusk. But unlike most runners, Joshua runs for his life. He has cystic fibrosis (CF), a strength-sapping disease that makes it hard to breathe. Thick mucus…

ContraFect will receive up to $6.94 million in funding from CARB-X to support the development of their proprietary therapeutic peptides — amurins — against antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections caused by gram-negative ESKAPE pathogens. The company intends to develop these compounds as potential therapies for pulmonary exacerbations of cystic fibrosis and hospital-acquired…

With each new advance in medicine comes ethical dilemmas, from fertility treatments and newborn screening, to vaccinations, gene therapies and euthanasia. But rare diseases and the expensive therapies needed to treat them — particularly in an age of scarce economic resources — almost always entail “tragic choices,” warned Avraham Steinberg,…

An ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial exploring Translate Bio’s investigational therapy MRT5005 will start testing multiple ascending doses (MAD) in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). This follows an assessment by a protocol review safety committee, which reviewed the study’s protocol and interim safety data. The committee approved…