PRESS RELEASE:
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–February 23, 2015–
Cydan Development, Inc., an orphan drug accelerator that identifies and de-risks programs with significant therapeutic potential, will join forces with rare disease patients, caregivers and health care advocates in Massachusetts at a Rare Disease Day® event being held at the Massachusetts State House. The event will raise awareness for the 30 million Americans currently living with a rare disease.
The event is today from 11 a.m. to noon, at the Massachusetts State House in the Great Hall.
“Cydan is proud to support Rare Disease Day and raise awareness about rare diseases,” said Chris Adams, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Cydan. “We recognize the urgent need to make new medicines available to patients with rare diseases, and we are committed to creating companies that will develop therapies that make a difference.”
Rare Disease Day is an annual awareness day celebrated around the world. This day is dedicated to elevating public understanding of rare diseases and calling attention to the special challenges faced by patients. Rare Disease Day takes place every year on the last day of February to underscore the nature of rare diseases and what patients face. It was established in Europe in 2008 by EURORDIS, the organization representing rare disease patients in Europe, and is now observed in more than 80 nations.
Rare Disease Day is sponsored by the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD®), a leading independent, nonprofit organization committed to the identification, treatment, and cure of rare diseases. The Massachusetts event on Monday is co-hosted by MassBio and VHL Alliance. MassBio is an association of more than 650 biotechnology companies, universities, academic institutions and others dedicated to advancing cutting edge research. VHL Alliance is dedicated to research, education and support to improve diagnosis, treatment and quality of life for those affected by von Hippel-Lindau, a genetic form of cancer.
About Rare Diseases
An orphan or rare disease is one that affects fewer than 200,000 patients – or about 1 in 1,500 patients – in the U.S. Other countries including the EU and Japan have defined rare diseases as those affecting similar portions of their populations.
There are nearly 7,000 recognized rare diseases affecting nearly 30 million Americans and an estimated 350 million people worldwide, according to the National Organization for Rare Diseases (NORD, EURORDIS and Global Genes). Most of these rare diseases are genetic and may appear early in life – 75 percent of rare diseases affect children and 30 percent of rare disease patients will not live to the age of five. The vast majority of rare and orphan diseases have no approved treatment options, and there is a critical need for new therapies.
About Cydan Development, Inc.
Cydan is an orphan drug accelerator that identifies and de-risks orphan drug products with significant therapeutic and commercial potential. Cydan evaluates products for treating rare diseases with high unmet medical need with the goal to start multiple companies to develop such therapies. Cydan’s first spin-off company, Vtesse, was launched in January 2015 and is developing drugs for Niemann-Pick Disease Type C (NPC) and other rare, severe diseases with great unmet need.
Cydan was founded in 2013 by a management team with extensive drug discovery, clinical development and business development experience financed by leading life sciences investors NEA, Pfizer Venture Investments, Lundbeckfond Ventures Bay City Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments. The accelerator is based in Cambridge, Mass. For more information, please visit www.cydanco.com or contact Cydan at info@cydanco.com
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