Archive for batten disease
Made-to-order therapies get a boost with new FDA guidelines
Science-based treatments for rare genetic diseases have burgeoned in the past decade. That includes diseases so rare they affect just a handful of patients — or in some cases, just one. In 2017, researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital made history, creating a customized drug for a girl named Mila with Batten disease. The drug blocked ... Read More
Against all odds: Mila’s unique mutation, and her own custom drug
As a baby and toddler, Mila was healthy, active, and — in some ways — even advanced for her age. She began speaking before she turned 1, went skiing for the first time at age 2, and was a fearless climber on furniture and rock walls. However, after she turned 3, Mila developed a strange ... Read More
Shooting for the moon: From diagnosis to custom drug, in one year
One weekend in January 2017, Timothy Yu, MD, PhD, was relaxing at home when his wife said, “Hey Tim, will you look at this post on Facebook? This might be something you’d be interested in.” Doctors had just diagnosed a young girl named Mila in Colorado with Batten disease, a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder. ... Read More