Finding a Cure for Fragile X
To say we are thankful would be an understatement. Before 2019 came to a close, FRAXA Research Foundation set an ambitious goal of $750,000 to raise by the start of the New Year. We knew that it would require all hands on deck, and we knew that those of you who believe in our mission would rise to the occasion. The turnout we received was beyond what we could have hoped for.
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With the help of our resilient supporters and the gifts of over 130 amazing donors, FRAXA Research Foundation raised $50,500 on #GivingTuesday. With a matching gift of $45,000 we were able to raise a total $95,500 to advance Fragile X research, funding two year-long research grants!
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First Healx secured $56M in new financing to launch a global Rare Treatment Accelerator program to tackle Fragile X syndrome and 39 other rare diseases. Now they have built a partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim worth millions. It all started with a small FRAXA grant to Healx to repurpose available drugs for Fragile X.
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A Fragile X clinical trial of a new PDE4D allosteric inhibitor from Tetra Therapeutics is nearly complete. Right now there are 3 remaining spots open to males 18-45 years of age with Fragile X syndrome. Dr. Elizabeth Berry-Kravis at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago is leading this trial. The drug being studied has a unique mechanism of action that might improve cognitive and memory function.
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FRAXA Program Coordinator, Elle Skala, and long time FRAXA supporter and previous Board Member, Mary Beth Busby, traveled to the National Institutes of Health earlier this week. The timing of this meeting was perfect because the National Institutes of Health (NIH) just released their long-anticipated Strategic Plan for Fragile X Syndrome, FXTAS, and FXPOI. It will guide federal Fragile X research funding for at least the next five years and open the door for continued funding of the Fragile X Research Centers of Excellence.
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As we get closer to the holiday season and the end of the year approaches, we start to reflect on what we have accomplished throughout the year. Did we keep our New Year’s Resolution? Did we spend more time with family and friends? We at FRAXA want to remind you that there is no better time than the present to make a difference. Before the year ends, you can have an impact.
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Healx has secured $56M in new financing to build a clinical-stage portfolio for rare diseases, including treatments for Fragile X syndrome, and to launch a global Rare Treatment Accelerator program. Where the traditional drug discovery model takes more than a decade and can run into the billions of dollars, Healx’s AI-driven approach makes the process faster, more efficient and cost-effective.
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Ellen Skala, known as Elle, has joined FRAXA Research Foundation as Program Coordinator. Elle is excited to work on the FRAXA team and we are excited to have her on board! She has experience in grant writing and personal fundraising campaigns. In her new role as program coordinator, Elle will communicate with FRAXA supporters throughout the country, connecting them to the mission and assisting them in fundraising and awareness-raising activities.
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Recently Laurie Bowler and her 19-year-old son Casey, who has Fragile X syndrome, visited FRAXA research grant recipient Dr. Tue Banke at his University of Washington laboratory. We hope you enjoy Laurie’s wonderful description of their adventure! FRAXA awarded $90,000 to Dr. Banke to study the Developmental Profile of Glutamatergic Synapses in Fragile X.
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On Fragile X Awareness Day, July 22, 2019, buildings, bridges, and monuments across the U.S. and Canada — including Niagara Falls — will be illuminated in FRAXA’s signature Teal to spread the word about Fragile X syndrome.
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On September 20, 2018, FRAXA Research Foundation held the First Annual FRAXA Biotech Games™. The event was a “friendly” competition between greater Boston biotech companies and affiliated industry partners and vendors in a series of fun backyard lawn games. 42 teams of 4 players each played cornhole, KanJam, ladder golf and bucketball. Our goal was to establish an annual event in Cambridge, MA, that would unite the biotech community for an afternoon of fun competition, and raise money for biomedical research. We look forward to the upcoming Biotech Games!
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We in the Fragile X community have our advocacy work cut out for us to restore levels of federal funding for Fragile X research! Both of the main federal funders – the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DOD) are letting Fragile X research lapse!
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We asked for your help to get more runners in the race to find effective treatments and a cure for Fragile X, and you came through for us. Thank you all so much! FRAXA’s 2018 year-end annual appeal raised $733,017 to fund new Fragile X research!
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Tetra Discovery Partners has signed a multi-part deal that could bring it up to $160 million, plus royalties, from Shionogi & Co, Ltd, a Japanese major research-driven pharmaceutical company. Tetra currently is conducting an investigational Phase 2 study of BPN14770 in adults with Fragile X Syndrome, an indication for which BPN14770 has received Orphan Drug Designation from the US Food and Drug Administration. This clinical trial was made possible by early work with the FRAXA-DVI and over $200,000 from FRAXA.
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FRAXA Board Member and co-founder of The Pierce Family Fragile X Foundation, Kathan Pierce, has been named this week’s 2018 Patriots Difference Make of the Week! This honor is given by the NFL’s New England Patriots Foundation.
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Many drugs for fragile X syndrome have failed in large clinical trials, but candidates that target new aspects of the condition may fare better.
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With a 2013-2014 FRAXA Research Grant, Principal Investigator Marius Wernig, PhD and FRAXA Fellow Samuele Marro, PhD at Stanford University found that the Fragile X mutation impairs homeostatic plasticity in human neurons, by blocking synaptic retinoic acid signaling. Retinoic acid is a metabolite of Vitamin A. The system they have developed could provide a powerful new cellular biomarker for screening many treatment approaches.
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FRAXA Research Foundation was honored to be part of the opening bell ringing ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on July 5, 2018. We were there to raise awareness for Fragile X along side the National Fragile X Foundation. FRAXA President Katie Clapp and Director of Community Relations Dave Bjork attended with over 30 Fragile X family members and friends, including 4 self-advocates. This was a great opportunity to raise awareness of Fragile X on a big stage at an iconic place. The event was also carried live on television on CNBC, giving FRAXA and Fragile X broad reach around the world.
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Most people know that FRAXA supports academic research at many institutions such as Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Yale University. However, FRAXA is also working with more than 30 pharmaceutical companies around the world. Mike spends a lot of his time advising and collaborating with industry partners.
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At FRAXA Research Foundation, we are truly grateful for our Fragile X community and thousands of donors. We couldn’t keep moving the ball forward in research without your support. Each year FRAXA invests over $1 million in Fragile X research thanks to your support. Because we supported these three researchers, we were able to secure another $35 million in research aimed at identifying clinical trial outcome measures that will lead to human trials of promising treatments for those affected by Fragile X.
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Thanks to your generous support, we surpassed our annual appeal goal of $600,000 and are one step closer to finding effective treatments and, ultimately, a cure for Fragile X syndrome. From November 6 to December 31, collectively we raised over $760,000 from over 1,000 donors! This means we will also receive the matching gift of $600,000 from the Sunshine Lady Foundation! We’d like to express our sincere gratitude to all of our donors who generously gave to FRAXA Research Foundation in 2017 and look forward to continuing the promising translational Fragile X research momentum in 2018.
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Over 50 #FriendsofFRAXA showed up on the the day after Thanksgiving, November 24, at the Bruins game against the Pittsburgh Penguins to sell 50/50 raffle tickets. Our amazing volunteers sold $34,938 in tickets resulting in $17,469 donated to FRAXA research. This was the highest amount the Bruins sold this year in raffle tickets!
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Co-Founder Kathy May returns after two decades to write grants. It’s about discovering new forms of treatments to enhance the mental, emotional and social growth of those affected by Fragile X. “And there will be a cure,” she said. “FRAXA is the reason for this hope. I have come full circle to FRAXA and feeling more hopeful than I have in many years.”
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July 22 is National Fragile X Awareness Day, but I’ll bet few know the history behind it.
In 2000, before there was such a thing as a Fragile X Advocacy Day, FRAXA Research Foundation and David Busby (husband to Mary Beth, father to two adult sons living with Fragile X, a member of FRAXA’s pioneering leadership team, and a prominent and politically well-connected DC lawyer) were running Fragile X advocacy in Washington, DC.
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Cures Within Reach, the leading global nonprofit focused on repurposing research as a fast track to saving patient lives, has awarded FRAXA Research Foundation the 2017 Golan Christie Taglia Patient Impact Philanthropy Award for efforts to find treatments for the rare disease Fragile X syndrome.
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