Clinical relevance – the value of patient experiences

Friday, September 30th, 2011

Since 2006 Clinuvel has trialed SCENESSE® in a truly unique group of individuals: patients living with erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), a rare genetic blood disorder which causes an absolute intolerance to light.

EPP prevents patients from leading ‘normal’ lives, especially outdoors. It is one of the few diseases that manifest clinically with initially invisible symptoms which cause severe dermal pain for several days. This not only presents a challenge for diagnosis and treatment, but also for generating meaningful clinical trial results – those which are measurable numerically and are used by regulatory authorities to evaluate the efficacy of a drug in a patient population. Here, real life patient experiences during a trial can play an important role in providing clinical relevance and analysing hard data. (more…)

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Porphyrias: a disease grouping by cause, not symptoms

Monday, April 18th, 2011

Held biennially, the Porphyrins & Porphyrias conference (P&P) is the world’s largest gathering on the porphyrias – a group of metabolic disorders causing biochemical disruptions in the pathway of the body which synthesizes haem (heme).

As a result of each of these disruptions, the body presents with unique symptoms ranging from skin symptoms and phototoxicity – as those seen in erythropoietic protoporphyria and congenital erythropoietic porphyria – through to acute attacks of abdominal pain, seen most commonly in acute intermittent porphyria. In short, no two porphyrias are clinically identical yet they are discussed as a single group of disorders with a similar cause. As a matter of fact, there are eight variations of porphyrias, each with a specific clinical manifestation of disease. (more…)

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Treating ‘sun allergy’: an ongoing quest

Tuesday, March 1st, 2011

Following a curious tweet on her ‘sun allergy’ we invited Amanda from Texas to share her experiences as a guest blogger in the hope that they may help others. This is the second of two parts, you can read part one here.

Hiding from the sun wasn’t an option. Granted, I was reluctant to incur the wrath of UV light: the itching, the bumps, the disfiguration that affected my confidence. Thankfully my PLE was confined to my arms.

Yet, with dermatologists telling me nothing could be done outside an occasional cortisone injection, I was determined to explore any and all treatment options. (more…)

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Allergic to the sun?

Monday, February 21st, 2011

As the Northern Hemisphere approaches the end of winter, we are beginning to see more mentions of ‘sun allergies’ in popular press, online and in social media.

Most people are not actually ‘allergic’ to the sun, but rather are suffering the first symptoms of seasonal or light-induced skin disorders, known medically as photodermatoses. Photodermatoses cause a person’s skin to react to even the briefest sunlight exposure by burning, swelling or developing a rash. Most distressingly, these diseases can have sudden onset where people, who may have never experienced them before, see symptoms following their first day in the spring sun. (more…)

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How I explain EPP to the world

Friday, February 18th, 2011

As part of our ongoing focus on erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), we’ve invited Victoria to share her experiences with EPP as a guest blogger. You can read Victoria’s first post here.

When I was first diagnosed with EPP there was a huge sense of relief: someone had actually listened to me and believed that something wasn’t quite right.

That said, I am not overjoyed at having the condition as it restricts my life so much. When Spring starts to approach I get anxious as I dread having a reaction; my freedom to go out feels more restricted. (more…)

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The effects of photosensitivity disorders on patient quality of life

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

A new study from the University of Manchester has uncovered some of the impacts that photosensitivity disorders have upon individual and family quality of life. While several research papers have illustrated the trend towards reduced psychological health in this group, this is the first to compare specific aspects of lifestyle in photosensitive and healthy individuals. (more…)

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Summary of today’s announcements

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Today’s announcement of the results of CUV017 has brought with it a stream of updates from Clinuvel, on the website, YouTube and beyond.

In this post we summarise the days releases and developments.

(more…)

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Skin Cancer Awareness Month in the US

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month in the US, and it’s likely that the associated awareness campaign has come not a moment too soon. A recent study confirmed that non-melanoma skin cancer has reached epidemic levels in the US, with an estimated 300 percent increase in the number of skin cancers over the past decade and a half.

(more…)

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Broader implications of a landmark announcement

Monday, May 17th, 2010

I take a moment on this day to discuss a separate impact of the surprising development surrounding our photoprotective drug afamelanotide, despite this being a result where Clinuvel has not played any role other than making afamelanotide available to Italian patients.

Much as afamelanotide will assist and transform the lives of the population of Italian EPP patients, it also promises to evolve Clinuvel as a mature pharmaceutical company in Europe and the US.

(more…)

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Unexpected news for afamelanotide from Italy

Monday, May 17th, 2010

An unprecedented and unexpected announcement over the weekend has lead to the company’s announcement this morning that afamelanotide will be first made available to Italian erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) patients prior to its formal approval anywhere else in the world.

A governmental publication in Italy has confirmed that Clinuvel’s afamelanotide implant formulation can now be prescribed for patients diagnosed with EPP under Law 648/96, while marketing authorisation for the European Community is being prepared.

(more…)

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