News

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…

AM1476, AnaMar’s investigational anti-fibrotic medication, has been granted orphan drug status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for treating scleroderma. To get this designation, a medication must be intended to treat a life-threatening rare…

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may accelerate the development and progression of systemic sclerosis (SSc) through fibrosis (scarring), inflammation, autoantibody production, and blood vessel damage. That’s according to a study in South Korea that shows the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that’s required for the…

Living with scleroderma requires adapting to changes in a woman’s sense of self, but practicing gratitude and accepting change can help patients reclaim themselves, a study aiming for a “grounded theory” of identify management reports. Its scientists said these findings may lay the groundwork for future studies aiming to…