MDA 2022 Highlights the Therapeutic Advances for Neuromuscular Diseases: Donald S. Wood, PhD

WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

“This is one of the first in-person conferences to begin to address a whole new area of medicine that has never existed. That’s genetic medicine. We are, in the neuromuscular disease community, treating patients with genetic diseases—diseases that were said to be untreatable as recently as 15 years ago.”

In the past decade, physicians, clinicians, and researchers who specialize in the care of patients with neuromuscular disorders have built tremendous momentum in advancing the therapeutic toolbox. Many diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), now have multiple FDA-approved treatments that have changed the landscape of care, and the pipeline of development has never been fuller, with more than 200 pharmaceutical companies now developing agents for these diseases.

For Donald S. Wood, PhD, president and CEO, Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), this progress has been reflected by the discussions and sessions taking place at the 2022 MDA Clinical & Scientific Conference, March 13-16, in Nashville, Tennessee. The organization held its first in-person meeting in 2 years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with 1000 attendees on-site, it was clear that excitement is building in the field.

Wood sat down with NeurologyLive^® at MDA 2022 to talk about this progress and excitement, pointing out his joy in seeing the impact that these new therapies have had for patients—specifically the ability to now extend patients’ lives and improve the quality of their lives. He noted that the conversations on management and care have put this new era of treatment on display, saying that “if you want to be a part of the new medicine, if you want to be a part of genetic medicine, this [meeting] is the place to be.”

For more coverage of MDA 2022, click here.