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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug status to BLR-200, a medication that BLR Bio — a company stemming from the Helix 51 biomedical incubator at Rosalind Franklin University — is developing for scleroderma. According to Ronald Kaplan, PhD, the…

Levels of two blood proteins, calcitonin and SOST, may be markers of lung disease in people with scleroderma, a new study shows. “This study indicates that serum calcitonin and SOST levels are promising biomarkers for [scleroderma]-related PAH [pulmonary arterial hypertension] and ILD [interstitial lung disease], respectively,” the researchers wrote, though…

People with scleroderma who feel more socially isolated are more likely to report being dissatisfied with life, but this association is partially attenuated in those who show more resilience, according to a recent study. Resilience refers to the ability to adapt to and recover from challenging life experiences, such…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to Cabaletta Bio’s cell therapy CABA-201 as a treatment for adults with hard-to-treat systemic sclerosis (SSc), or scleroderma. Orphan drug designation is intended to support the accelerated development of investigational treatments for rare diseases, defined as…

Lung disease severity in scleroderma (SSc) patients may be linked to levels of immune cells known as follicular T-helper cells (Tfh cells), according to a small study. The findings “may guide the development of targeted therapies for this aspect of the disease,” the researchers wrote. Titled “…

Inflammatory arthritis — a condition marked by joint inflammation that causes swelling, pain, and damage — affects about one-third of people with scleroderma, also known as systemic sclerosis (SSc), and is associated with worse health-related quality of life, or HRQoL for short, according to a new study from Australia.

Cognitive difficulties affected half of all scleroderma patients in a recent study in Italy, while malnutrition was found in more than one quarter. While no correlation was seen between cognitive impairment and malnutrition in the 100 patients involved, the presence of these complications associated with greater functional disability and…

Muscle disease is common in people with scleroderma and is associated with inflammation and specific end-organ involvement, according to an Australian study. The findings underscore the “clinical, functional, and prognostic importance of simple biomarkers ” for identifying SSc-related muscle disease, the study’s researchers wrote in “Proximal weakness…

Certa Therapeutics’ FT011, an investigational oral therapy for systemic sclerosis (SSc), has been granted fast track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It comes following Phase 2 clinical trial data that showed that FT011 was safe and well tolerated, and led to clinically meaningful improvements…

More conversations, either one on one or in groups via telephone or virtually, along with in-person household activities and conversations, were significantly associated with less loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic among people with systemic sclerosis (SSc), a study indicates. Conversations and activities at the…