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Dr. Urano’s June Wolfram Research Update

Fumihiko “Fumi” Urano, MDDear Friends,

It’s a spectacular Saturday morning in Saint Louis as I write this to you. I always appreciate your continued support, encouragement, and kind words.

I have received many questions regarding our ongoing clinical trial, as well as questions related to our next step lately.

Although we don’t have a concrete plan yet, we consider the following possibilities.

  1. A longer duration, More participants, Multi-center
  2. Compare the efficacy of dantrolene sodium, valproic acid, and dantrolene sodium plus valproic acid

We are also developing breakthrough treatments for Wolfram syndrome as dantrolene and valporic acid are old drugs originally developed for other medical conditions.

Here are our new plans.

  1. We have been developing a new drug designed for Wolfram syndrome  (ER stress stabilizers) together with NIH/NCATS to delay/halt the progression of the disease. Pre-clinical studies in mouse models of Wolfram have been designed. We are seeking funds to complete these studies.
  2. Regenerative therapies using a novel neurotrophic factor in combination with gene transfer technology for visual impairment have been designed. We are seeking funds for testing these new therapies in mouse models of Wolfram syndrome.

I think we are making progress, and need to speed up as we are racing against time. Thank you again for your support.

Take care,

Fumi Urano, MD

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Dr. Barrett meets with Wolfram Associations across the globe

Dear Friends and colleagues,

I have been fortunate to visit the French Wolfram Association meeting in April in Paris; and the Spanish Wolfram association meeting in May in Almeria.

I was humbled by the friendship and community spirit of these families; and they were very tolerant of my poor French and Spanish language skills.

On the research front, we have just published the online mutation database of genetic variants in the Wolfram gene. This was work undertaken by Dr Dewi Astuti, and is a freely available database to support scientists worldwide. The database is available at: https://lovd.euro-wabb.org

Regarding the Phase II clinical trial, we are negotiating manufacture of the investigational medicinal product and placebo. We hope to complete this in the next 4 weeks and are still aiming to begin recruitment in the UK in November.

Thank you for all your interest and support, and I will try to provide regular updates on our progress

Sincerely,

Prof Tim Barrett

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