making muscle wasting history

"SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ - June 15, 2009 - PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (PTC) today announced the receipt of two government grants to support clinical development programs in rare disorders. The U.S. Department of Defense Neurofibromatosis Research Program has awarded an $822,345 grant to support a new open-label Phase 2 clinical trial of PTC's product candidate PTC299 in neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), a rare genetic tumor. Separately, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Orphan Products Development has awarded PTC a four year, $1.6 million grant towards its ongoing pivotal trial of ataluren (PTC124™) in nonsense mutation Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy (nmDMD/BMD)."

Despite several requests from Action Duchenne the UK government still refuses to directly fund biotech companies. The US Government here has funded PTC's drug programme for Duchenne and this sort of backing has been instrumental in companies like PTC keeping a vital interest in Duchenne research.