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Create a new drug based on an old drug

My current priority is to bring an existing drug that can control endoplasmic reticulum (ER) functions to our patients with Wolfram syndrome. However, this is not good enough to halt the progression and/or reverse symptoms. We need to design a new drug that is specifically designed for Wolfram syndrome. How can we achieve this?

We are taking a few different approaches. One of the approaches that I am taking is to extensively test the existing FDA-approved drug and monitor the effects of this drug on ER functions. We are also testing this drug in mouse models of Wolfram syndrome and cells from patients. Based on the data we have, we will test other new drugs that bind to the same molecule as this FDA-approved drug binds. The efficacy of these drugs will be carefully monitored in mouse models of Wolfram and cells from patients. Together with the Snow Foundation, we are raising funds to achieve this goal as quickly as possible.
Thank you for your continued support.

Kindest regards,

Fumi Urano

Medicine

 

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A message from a mother

I receive many emails, letters, and phone calls every day from patients with Wolfram syndrome and unusual forms of diabetes and their families and doctors. Many of these are related to their medical conditions and potential treatments. Some of these are personal.

I received a message from a mother who had lost her daughter due to Wolfram syndrome last week. I was very sorry for her loss. I also appreciated that she shared her thoughts with me. I was encouraged by her message. I face multiple challenges, but a message like this one keeps me going.

I read every single email from you. I try to respond to all of these messages. Thank you again for your continued support. Tomorrow is a Mother’s day, my friends.

Take care,
Fumi Urano

Message in the bottle washed ashore on rocky beach.

Message in the bottle washed ashore on rocky beach.

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We have joined the Global Rare Disease Registry Program of NIH/NCATS

I have some good news to share with you. We have just joined the Global Rare Disease Registry Program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Dr. Austin, Director of NCATS, and Dr. McInnes, Director of the Office of Rare Disease Research, helped me to make this happen. Dr. Yaffa Rubinstein who is leading this program is a wonderful person. I will work with Dr. Rubinstein to make this program successful. If you know anyone who has an abnormal form of type 1 diabetes, please ask him/her to contact me. http://wolframsyndrome.dom.wustl.edu/

I started our Wolfram syndrome International Registry with late Dr. Alan Permutt in 2009 when I was a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. I presented my idea at the executive committee meeting of the diabetes center. Dr. David Harlan and other committee members offered help and the registry was established at Washington University. It was 6 years ago, and I did not expect that I would take over the registry then.

The registry led to the creation of the research clinic. I hope we can expand our clinic and create the consultation clinic. I hope we can create the Wolfram clinics all over the world. The Snow Foundation and our medical center have been supportive. I will keep on moving forward. The clinics help patients. To save patients, we need novel treatments. I will keep on moving forward.

I feel so grateful today. To achieve a cure for Wolfram is challenging. We need to recruit the smartest investigators and raise funds to make this happen.

Looking forward with fingers crossed,

Fumi Urano, MD, PhD

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Drug development for Wolfram syndrome with NIH, NCATS

My visit to NIH, NCATS, with Stephanie Snow Gebel, Chairman of the Board of the Snow Foundation, was quite successful. We have had multiple discussions in the past two weeks and agreed to develop novel chemical compounds (i.e., drugs) for Wolfram syndrome. We will target the endoplasmic reticulum. This will be a three-way collaboration with NCATS, Snow Foundation, and my Wolfram research team at Washington University. We are very excited by this because NCATS has a strong drug development team. They said that their mission is to develop novel treatments for rare and neglected diseases. I appreciate this opportunity, and grateful for all the people who made this possible, including Dr. Francis Collins, NIH Director, and Dr. Christopher Austin, NCATS Director. The drug development team at NCAST is so strong. I look forward to working with Dr. Ajit Jadhav, Dr. David Maloney, and Dr. Anton Simeonov. This is wonderful news to the Wolfram syndrome community. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

With gratitude,

Fumi Urano

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Tomorrow is already a day late

My major focus is to develop treatments and provide a cure for Wolfram syndrome. Because Wolfram is a prototype of ER stress-related disease, I am running projects related to other ER stress-related diseases, Type 1 diabetes and ALS, on the side because I can learn new things and come up with new ideas. I often watch the website created by Mr. Hiro Fujita who is a patient with ALS. I agree with him. We should to everything we can do to speed up the process for developing treatments for rare diseases including ALS and Wolfram syndrome. Tomorrow is already a day late. Instead of worrying about who is going to take responsibilities or intellectual property rights, we should develop novel treatments and bring these to our patients as soon as possible.

http://end-als.com/#movie

Thank you for your continued support.

Take care,

Fumi Urano

Clock face showing time past midnight on white background

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Renovation of an old drug

One of the exciting things that were offered during our visit to NIH, NCATS, was to renovate old drugs and make them more specific for Wolfram syndrome and other endoplasmic reticulum-related diseases. We have identified three FDA-approved drugs that can potentially delay the progression of Wolfram syndrome. These drugs were originally designed and indicated for other disorders. We are certainly interested in using one of these drugs for our interventional study after we determine the dose of the drug using our animal models and cell models of Wolfram syndrome. In parallel, they recommend that we modify the structures of these old drugs and make them more suitable for Wolfram syndrome. Their medicinal chemists have the ability to do this. This is a “renovation” of an old drug. I look forward to this exciting collaboration. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Thank you for your continued support. I am quite hopeful.

Kindest regards,

Fumi Urano

renovation in progress

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Our visit to NIH was fruitful

Stephanie Snow Gebel, the founder of the Snow Foundation, and I visited NIH, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, yesterday. Our visit to NIH was quite fruitful. I learned a lot about the NIH’s efforts on developing novel treatments for rare diseases. I met with Dr. Christopher Austin’s team and discussed our potential collaboration on Wolfram syndrome and related disorders. We will further discuss our collaboration on April 17th. They have a very strong drug development team. If we can develop a new drug targeting the endoplasmic reticulum specifically designed for Wolfram, this may lead to a novel treatment for diabetes. I am excited by this opportunity. Please stay tuned!

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement.

Take care,

Fumi Urano

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Rare Disease Day and Francis Collins Raise Awareness For The Snow Foundation

Last week, in honor of Rare Disease Day, the Snow Foundation was interviewed by the St. Louis ABC affiliate, KDNL ABC 30.

The story focused on Stephanie Gebel and her fight for a cure for Wolfram syndrome and to revolutionize the diabetic world. Here is the story featured on the Jamie Allman Show.

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A Mom’s Take On The Paris Wolfram Symposium

Stephanie Snow Gebel at Paris Wolfram symposium

Me and fellow Wolfram syndrome families from Italy along with Dr. Urano.

I attended my 3rd Wolfram symposium held in Paris France this past week. I brought along with me my sweet daughter Raquel and our babysitter, Kat Broom. I felt it was important to let Raquel experience Paris before she completely loses all of her eyesight.  As of now, she is considered legally blind.

I am usually invited to the Paris Wolfram symposium because I represent a foundation from the United States that has been raising money to help fund Wolfram syndrome research. This research will ultimately lead to a drug therapy.

The meeting is comprised of researchers, scientists and doctors who discuss their discoveries over the last 18 months. Half of the information that was shared was way over my head. Towards the end of the meeting I decided to be brave and speak up. I shared my feelings that although all their studies on various aspects of Wolframs are important, we need to discover drug therapies to stop the progression of this disease. (I had to back pedal a little and re-state my words because I came across a little harsh and straight to the point. For those of you who really know me, that would not surprise you).

Raquel Gebel at Paris Wolfram symposium

Raquel lighting at candle for her cousin Jake at one of the beautiful Paris cathedrals.

This whole ordeal is a slow process, I understand, but as a mother who has to continually watch her child suffer because of this disease, I feel like we are going at a snails pace. I had a couple individuals speak their mind as well, and it was not in my favor. I held my own though, with the exception of breaking out in a rash on my neck and chest because of my nerves. I made it very clear that these children and young adults do not have time to wait. If the money is being raised, lets hit this and hit it fast. My goal when I return to Paris (which will be in another 18 months) is that I will be able to let all these individuals know that my previous comment about going to slow was just what they needed to hear. You can have all the brilliance of M.D.s, Ph.D.’s, scientists etc. but never, I say never go up against a MOM! You are not going to win…

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