Fighting for Life: Parents of Boys With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Urge Drug OK

Published: Monday, April 7, 2014 at 7:59 p.m. Last Modified: Monday, April 7, 2014 at 7:59 p.m.

That was what Terri and Bill Ellsworth expected for their son when doctors confirmed his diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a debilitating and fatal disease striking one in 3,500 boys.

Instead, Billy has become an active, happy teenager who likes to dance to Beatles songs, walk around at classic car shows, hike on local trails and jog in his living room along with avatars of Michael Jackson and Elton John he created for his Wii video game.

He's like a lot of other 13-year-olds but for an awkward gait and the Wednesday afternoons he spends at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC for an infusion of an experimental drug that's keeping his disease at bay and without any side effects.

Billy, of Coraopolis, Pa., is one of a dozen Duchenne patients who are receiving eteplirsen as part of a clinical trial. The drug was expected only to slow the progression of the disease, but Billy and others in the trial are finding their symptoms are improving. Testing confirms that their lungs are getting stronger and their bodies are producing dystrophin, an essential protein that wasn't present in muscles biopsied two and a half years ago when the trial began.

Results astounded researchers.

"I've done many, many clinical trials and never encountered one that was so clean, effective and very well tolerated," said principal investigator Dr. Jerry Mandell, Ohio State University professor of medicine and director of gene therapy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, where testing was initially conducted.

For the 12 boys and their families, it's a miracle drug, but other Duchenne patients can't access it because the Food and Drug Administration hasn't yet approved it. Terri Ellsworth and other mothers are lobbying regulators to expedite approval under a 2012 law that encourages faster reviews of breakthrough therapies that address unmet medical needs for rare and life-threatening diseases.

They spent the past month collecting signatures on a petition they sent to the White House urging the administration to expedite approvals of drugs that treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The White House has promised to respond publicly in writing to petitions with at least 100,000 signatures. The Duchenne petition reached that threshold Tuesday. Supporters can still sign by going to TheRaceToYes.org.

Duchenne parents believe eteplirsen meets all the requirements for expedited approval, and they're urging action now because their children are running out of time.

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Fighting for Life: Parents of Boys With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Urge Drug OK