februari 29, 2024

Ectin Research AB raise awareness for rare diseases such as uveal melanoma

Ectin Research AB (“Ectin” or “the Company”) wants to raise awareness of Rare Diseases. More than 7,000 rare diseases have been diagnosed, affecting 6% of the total EU population. Uveal melanoma (UM) is a rare disease that affects the eye. In cases where the disease metastasizes the prognosis is very poor. Ectin’s lead clinical candidate, MFA-370, has already shown potential to treat UM in preclinical tumour models.

February 29 is the rarest of days, the last day of February it has been marking and highlighting awareness for Rare Diseases since 2008. A ’rare disease’ is defined as a life-threatening or chronically debilitating disease that affects less than 1 in 2,000 people. There are more than 7,000 rare diseases affecting up to 6% of the total EU population. Recently we have seen approvals of significant treatments that give hope and belief that no patient will be left behind. The number of recognised diseases continues to rise, as our fundamental understanding of pathophysiology and molecular diagnostics is added to by the surge in bioinformatics support.

UM is one of the rare diseases and the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults, with approximately 7,000 people diagnosed each year. Despite effective treatments for the primary tumour, up to 50% of UM patients will develop metastasis, leading to a very poor prognosis and a median overall survival of 6 to 12 months.

Austin Smith, Ectin Research CMO: “On this day, we here at Ectin Research would like to highlight our commitment to developing new treatments for these rare diseases. Our lead clinical candidate, MFA-370, has already shown potential to treat UM in preclinical tumour models. We hope to take this to the clinic in the foreseeable future and show the potential to develop treatment for patients with UM that already has a hugely harmful impact.”