Publications by authors named "Bettina M Cockroft"

BIVV003 is a gene-edited autologous cell therapy in clinical development for the potential treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD). Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) are genetically modified with mRNA encoding zinc finger nucleases (ZFN) that target and disrupt a specific regulatory GATAA motif in the BCL11A erythroid enhancer to reactivate fetal hemoglobin (HbF). We characterized ZFN-edited HSC from healthy donors and donors with SCD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Patients with hemophilia A require exogenous factor VIII (FVIII) or nonfactor hemostatic agents to prevent spontaneous bleeding events. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector-based gene therapy is under clinical investigation to enable endogenous FVIII production. Giroctocogene fitelparvovec is a recombinant AAV serotype 6 vector containing the coding sequence for the B-domain-deleted human F8 gene.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The phase 3 clinical trial, COURAGE-ALS, aims to evaluate a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by refining participant eligibility based on insights from a previous phase 2 trial, FORTITUDE-ALS.
  • The new criteria focus on including participants with intermediate to fast disease progression, specifically those with symptom onset within 24 months and a baseline ALSFRS-R score of 44 or lower.
  • The trial design also incorporates remote study visits and simplified muscle strength evaluations to ease participant burden while enhancing the sensitivity to detect treatment effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

: To evaluate the possible effect of , a fast skeletal muscle troponin activator, on prescription and acceptance of durable medical equipment (DME) in the FORTITUDE-ALS trial. Health economic outcome information was collected in FORTITUDE-ALS (NCT03160898); sites recorded if and when DME, specifically manual or power wheelchairs, gastrostomy tubes, noninvasive ventilators, or augmentative language devices, was prescribed by a physician and accepted by the patient (DME-PAP) during the trial. Acceptance was defined as the patient agreeing the item was needed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To evaluate the prescribing practices of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) and patient compliance during VITALITY-ALS. VITALITY-ALS enrolled patients with a slow vital capacity (SVC) ≥70% of predicted who were not using NIV at screening. Physicians prescribed NIV without restriction following randomization.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This phase 2, double-blind, placebo-controlled, hypothesis-generating study evaluated the effects of oral reldesemtiv, a fast skeletal muscle troponin activator, in patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Patients ≥ 12 years of age with type II, III, or IV SMA were randomized into 2 sequential, ascending reldesemtiv dosing cohorts (cohort 1: 150 mg bid or placebo [2:1]; cohort 2: 450 mg bid or placebo [2:1]). The primary objective was to determine potential pharmacodynamic effects of reldesemtiv on 8 outcome measures in SMA, including 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) and maximum expiratory pressure (MEP).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A study was conducted to assess the safety, dose response, and initial efficacy of a treatment for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) over 12 weeks.
  • A total of 458 patients were enrolled, with results showing no significant improvements in the primary endpoint of slow upright vital capacity (SVC) or secondary measures like the ALS Functional Rating Scale and muscle strength mega-score during the 12 weeks.
  • While the main analysis did not reach statistical significance, trends indicated potential benefits for active treatment compared to placebo, and the treatment was generally well tolerated, with minor side effects and reversible liver and kidney issues noted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF