News

The use of biological anti-inflammatory therapies effectively controlled epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) in four people with the disease, a recent study reports. “According to our clinical experience and literature data in severe EBA cases with rapid progress, biologicals should be considered promptly,” the researchers wrote. They added that the…

Researchers have highlighted the challenges of treating two cases of aggressive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), a form of skin cancer associated with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), with immunotherapy when surgery was no longer an option. One patient, who had many genetic mutations within cancer cells, responded well to…

Abeona Therapeutics has submitted a data briefing package on its cell therapy candidate EB-101 to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ahead of a meeting with the agency planned for this month. The meeting’s purpose is to discuss Abeona’s planned application seeking approval of EB-101 to treat recessive …

A new mutation in the ITGA6 gene, called “a novel lethal variant” by researchers, was identified as the cause of junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB) that led to the death of a fetus at 32 weeks of pregnancy, according to a case reported in Saudi Arabia. This was the third…

Lesions in the skin and mucosa in a 20-year-old woman with epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) came back years later, after a COVID-19 vaccination, according to a case report. While rapid development of skin disease after receiving vaccinations had been reported, this is the first case of possible EBA with autoantibodies…

LifeArc and DEBRA Austria have launched a £2.5 million (around $3.3 million) funding call for projects that seek to repurpose therapies for epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Treatment repurposing consists of identifying new therapeutic use for approved medicines. It is an alternative approach to the traditional process of developing…

People with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) developed fewer new wounds after getting treatment with skin-derived mesenchymal stem cells, a new clinical trial analysis shows. The treatment also led to newly developed wounds healing more quickly, and healed wounds more frequently remained closed. The study, “Kinetics of…

Gene therapy applied to stem cells — ones derived from blister fluid collected from people with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) — successfully generated C7 protein within the skin layers of RDEB model mice. Production of C7, which is lacking in RDEB, worked best when modified cells were applied…

New study findings show how the complement system C5aR2 protein at the surface of neutrophils, a type of immune cell, may contribute to the progression of the rare autoimmune disease epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA). Mice lacking C5aR2 specifically at the surface of neutrophils had lessened inflammation. “Signaling through C5a receptors induces…

Abeona Therapeutics has been working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ahead of its planned submission of a biologics license application (BLA) for EB-101, with an aim of maximizing the chances of having its cell therapy approved as a treatment for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB).

Colitis, an inflammation of the large intestine (colon), may develop in rare cases in people with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), according to a study of one such case. The patient was successfully treated with mesalamine and the steroid budesonide, but more research is needed to “develop evidence-based guidelines…

Issues with wound healing may play a central role in driving severe forms of epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a new paper proposes. Scientists think that, in EB, wounds may enter a vicious cycle where they become inflamed as they try to heal, but then are unable to resolve the healing…