Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug pipeline variation is promising

By 2030, patients living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) - a genetic muscle wasting disease caused by mutations on the gene that produces dystrophin - will have greater choice when it comes to the drug types used for treatment.

According to GlobalData, a data and analytics company, there are 23 DMD-targeting therapeutics currently being developed in the USA and Japan, and eight of these have the potential to make it to market in the next 10 years.

GlobalData’s immunology analyst Chris Pilis commented: “The variation seen in the DMD pipeline is really encouraging. This patient population largely relies on steroid treatments, which can have serious side effects such as stunted growth in adolescents, bone fragility, and weight gain. Even alternatives like exon-skipping therapies need to be used in conjunction with steroids.