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Arlo’s Army needs stem cell donor as mum begs for help to save three-year-old’s life – Glasgow Live

Gorgeous little Arlo McArthur looks the picture of health and happiness.

Loved and adored by his family this little lively three-year-old from Milngavie is spoiled rotten by his three big sisters and his ultimate day out is playing golf with his daddy.

But behind the cheeky grin lies a devastating truth - he's a "ticking-timebomb" and needs a stem cell transplant to save his life.

So today, we've joined with Arlo's mum Nicole, dad Ian and his three doting sisters Carys, Brooke and Holly in asking Glasgow Live readers to step up and help this brave little boy.

They need young men, between 16 and 30 to volunteer to be tested to see if they are a match for the toddler. There's not much to it, a simple swab test carried out at home is enough for the experts to determine if you're a match.

The more people who register to be tested the better chance there is of finding the ideal candidate willing to donate the bone marrow little Arlo desperately needs.

For this family your help could mean the difference between life and death.

They've lived with the knowledge since he was 10 weeks old that a rare genetic condition could rob their precious little boy of his future.

Diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, it means Arlo's immune system doesn't function properly and it's difficult for his bone marrow to produce platelets, making him prone to bleeding.

Its estimated there are between 1 and 10 cases per million males worldwide. Arlo was only the third case at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

Doctors say they cant take the risk with an older donor as he was lucky to survive a previous transplant which failed when he was a baby.

His back-up is his dad Ian, 31, but he's only a half-match.

Sadly little Arlo's story isn't unique, across the country 2,300 people a year need a stem cell transplant and charity Anthony Nolan coordinates the search and raises money to support their vital work.

Nicole, 37, dreams of seeing her little boy attend his first day at school next August and believes someone out there can help that dream come true.

She pleaded: "Were asking as many people as possible to register and help give Arlo the life he deserves.

"We want to love and enjoy having our little boy around for a long time. He should be able to live out his life of dreams.

"Put yourself in the shoes of a parent whose child is ill, or someone else who is about to lose a loved one. Youve just been told in a room that they wont make it without stem cells. How does it feel?

"Its not just our Arlo, there are plenty of Arlos out there who need your help."

"People don't realise how easy it is to do. It's not this big operation, just a few injections and a day at an out-patient clinic to save someone's life. I wish it was opt-out, like organ donation.

"We dont have much time but I know in my heart the right match is out there."

To find out how you can can join the register and help the fight to save little Arlo and others just like visit Anthony Nolan's website here.

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Arlo's Army needs stem cell donor as mum begs for help to save three-year-old's life - Glasgow Live

Arlo’s Army: mum opens up on heartbreaking decision to make 3-year-old sick to save his life – Glasgow Live

Little Arlo McArthur has spent his short life fighting.

No one knows better than his mum Nicole just how tough this little warrior is.

Diagnosed with a deadly blood disorder at just 10 weeks old, the three-year-old desperately needs a stem cell transplant to save his life.

And as the campaign to encourage males between 16 and 30 to volunteer to be tested to see if they are a match gathers pace, Nicole has opened up in heartbreaking detail about the harrowing battle to save Arlo.

She told Glasgow Live: "This is every parents worst nightmare. I cannot lose my son. We have such a fight ahead of us.

"He's doing really well at the moment but it's really scary looking at him, knowing he is so vulnerable. It hurts us so much."

It was only two weeks after bringing their baby boy home in 2017 that Nicole and husband Ian discovered something was wrong with him.

"We rushed him to A&E after he vomited a blood clot." Nicole recalls. "Doctors initially diagnosed a severe cows milk allergy and sent us home. Later he vomited again, and we found blood in his poo so we returned.

"It was suggested that it may be leukaemia as his platelets were so low. When they said that, I knew there was something deeply wrong. After that was ruled out, we waited ten more weeks for answers.

This was the point that I realised that doctors were only human, they are not God. They dont know everything: Its about eliminating all of these possibilities until they get to what it is. It was tough.

The Milngavie family spent weeks agonising in the dark and were offered leaflets on living without a diagnosis but kept in touch with medics.

One doctor mentioned that she thought his symptoms matched up with a rare condition, but did not want to define it to Nicole until the test results were confirmed.

After asking another member of staff, the sickened mum discovered they were testing her baby for Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome.

She said: "I Googled it when I got home and I was utterly traumatised to learn that the life expectancy for a child with this condition was five. I was beside myself.

"My friends and family were saying dont be silly and stay positive. I was praying and hoping it wasnt, but I knew in my gut it was what Arlo had."

Nicola steeled herself for the worst, but nothing could have prepared her for the moment she was given the bad news at the hospital. She broke down before the doctor had finished delivering the diagnosis.

Worse still, she was alone as her husband was unable to take any more time off work.

I was complete mess I was in full crazy mode, crying. I had to deliver the news to my husband over the phone. I never imagined it would be like this," she said.

The doctor tried to calm me down and said we could get him a bone marrow transplant. I didnt even know what that was before then.

Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome is a rare genetic immunodeficiency disease that keeps a child's immune system from functioning properly. It also makes it difficult for a child's bone marrow to produce platelets, making them prone to bleeding.

Its estimated there are between 1 and 10 cases per million males worldwide. Arlo was only the third case at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

A 10/10 donor match was found for him on December 22 the best Christmas present ever and shipped over from the US. The family battled to have it transported to Scotland from Heathrow in an Uber after flights were grounded during a snow storm.

The baby's transplant was successful, and the cells were engrafting. But that started to change, and his engraftment started to drop with each check in.

He also contracted severe sepsis and began suffering from seizures and it emerged entophilitis, a form of meningitis, had entered his brain. His neck lolled and his eyes danced around. He was taken into intensive care after being discharged.

We thought he might have had brain damage. It sounds terrible but we were accepting of that. Well take anything as long as hes with us. Well deal with what we have to. We just wanted him to live. Thankfully the symptoms resolved themselves.

If he didnt have that within six months, he wouldnt have made it to his first birthday. He was very, very sick.

Arlo urgently needs to find a young, male, donor aged 16-30. His back-up is his dad, who is a half-match.

Nicole explains that the success rate is higher for children under five in a healthier condition. When they find the match, the toddler will have to undergo high-dose chemotherapy to break down his immune system to allow the transplant to take place. He last had this when he was six months old.

One nurse described it to me as taking the body as close to death as they possibly can and rebuilding it. Its really harsh on the body its basically a poison," she said.

He really wasnt well the first time and he ended up on morphine for the pain. He had mucositis all the way from his throat to his gut and had to be fed through a tube to bypass his stomach. It was horrible.

"But if he doesnt do this as soon as he can, his immune system wont be able to withstand it. He could be at risk of leukaemia. I know hes a ticking time-bomb.

While doctors are hopeful that the next transplant will help Arlo, they warned the family to brace themselves for it not working out again. The mortality rate for a transplant is also around 20 per cent but Nicole said its a risk the family is willing to take to give their boy his best chance.

She said: The doctors do speak to you and say You do know if we dont get the result youre looking for things can go wrong. You have to sign paperwork to confirm that you know this could result in death.

So much can happen. You could undergo a transplant to fix one thing, and come out with another.

Once I played devils advocate and asked the doctor what Arlos life would be like if we chose not to take the transplant.

"He told me that Arlo would have a poor quality of life and they could possibly get him to his teenage years, maybe even his late teens. But it 'wouldnt be a nice way to live.' I said thats not an alternative. "

She added: To make him sick and risk his life to make him better all at the same time is heartbreaking. But theres that chance he could live a better life and thats what we are fighting for.

If we lose Arlo in the process, we know that we have done everything in our power to give him a normal life that we possibly can. That's in God's hands. It is our only option.

To find out how you can can join the register and help the fight to save little Arlo and others just like visit Anthony Nolan's website here.

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Arlo's Army: mum opens up on heartbreaking decision to make 3-year-old sick to save his life - Glasgow Live

Bone marrow transplant shows signs of curing brave little boy with one in a million condition – Shields Gazette

One-year-old Max Gardner was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia, in October 2020, a serious condition in which the bone marrow and stem cells do not produce enough blood cells.

After Max developed significant bruises and a rash over his body, parents, Connor Gardner and Rachel Nicholson, from Hebburn, were referred to South Tyneside District Hospital, where their brave little boy underwent tests.

Doctors initially believed that Max had an immune disorder but after he was admitted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) further tests helped to diagnose him with aplastic anaemia.

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The family was told that the condition could be fatal if not treated properly.

Doctors said Max needed to have a bone marrow transplant, which has the potential to cure him.

Dad Connor, 29, and mum Rachel, 27, were both tested to see if they would be a bone marrow match and the pair were overjoyed when Rachel was found to be a 9/10 match.

Max started chemotherapy on January 7 at the RVI and mum Rachel donated stem cells on January 13 at Newcastles Freeman Hospital.

The following day, January 14, Max underwent the transplant at the RVI.

The family is now waiting for the results of a Chimerism Test which will tell them for definite whether the stem cells have worked but signs are already looking positive.

Delighted dad, Connor, said: "His neutrophils [a type of white blood cell that protect us from infections] have been more than 0.50 for three days in a row, which means that he is essentially engrafted, which means that his body is accepting the transplant.

"So it is working, but we still have to wait for the test results."

Doctors say there is no doubt that it has worked with the way the numbers have gone up but they have to officially do it like that to make sure, Connor continued.

"But there is no reason why it shouldnt have [doctors] say.

"He has done really well to get to this stage, he has absolutely sailed through it, everyone is surprised with how well he has done.

This the best outcome we could have hoped for.

But it hasnt been plain sailing for the family, who have also had to face additional challenges during the treatment.

Parents Connor and Rachael initially were not allowed to visit Max at the same time due to Covid rules, however the hospital has now eased the restriction in their case.

The family also became sick with Norovirus in the run-up to the transplant, causing concern over whether it would have to be pushed back.

Thankfully, the transplant went ahead as planned and the family made a good recovery, although Max still needs help with his eating.

Max will now have to remain in hospital for a while longer as he recovers from the transplant.

Connor added: We can feel that we are nearly at the end of it.

"His neutrophils are the highest they have ever been since he became poorly so we feel like we are coming to the end.

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Bone marrow transplant shows signs of curing brave little boy with one in a million condition - Shields Gazette

Shattuck Labs Announces Participation in Citi’s 2021 Virtual Immuno-Oncology Day

AUSTIN, TX & DURHAM, NC, Feb. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shattuck Labs, Inc. (Shattuck) (NASDAQ: STTK), a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of bi-functional fusion proteins as a new class of biologic medicine for the treatment of patients with cancer and autoimmune disease, today announced it will participate in Citi’s 2021 Virtual Immuno-Oncology Day Conference being held virtually February 17-18, 2021.

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Shattuck Labs Announces Participation in Citi’s 2021 Virtual Immuno-Oncology Day

Revive Therapeutics Announces Closing of $23.0 Million Short Form Prospectus Offering

TORONTO, Feb. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Revive Therapeutics Ltd. (“Revive” or the “Company”) (CSE:RVV) (USA: RVVTF), a specialty life sciences company focused on the research and development of therapeutics for medical needs and rare disorders, is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced bought deal prospectus offering of 46,000,000 units (“Units”) at a price of $0.50 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $23,000,000 (the “Offering”), which includes the exercise in full of the 15% over-allotment option. The syndicate of underwriters was led by Canaccord Genuity Corp. and Leede Jones Gable Inc. as the co-lead underwriters (together, the "Underwriters"). The Units were offered and sold by way of a short form prospectus filed with the securities commissions in each of the provinces of Canada, other than Québec.

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Revive Therapeutics Announces Closing of $23.0 Million Short Form Prospectus Offering

Trading in Novo Nordisk shares by board members, executives and associated persons on 11-12 February 2021

Bagsværd, Denmark, 12 February 2021 — This document discloses the data of the transaction(s) made in Novo Nordisk shares by the company’s board members, executives and their associated persons in accordance with Article 19 of Regulation No. 596/2014 on market abuse.

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Trading in Novo Nordisk shares by board members, executives and associated persons on 11-12 February 2021

Tauriga Sciences Inc. to Commence Development of its 1st Full Spectrum CBD Infused Edibles Product Line

NEW YORK, NY , Feb. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- Tauriga Sciences, Inc. (OTCQB: TAUG) (“Tauriga” or the “Company”), a revenue generating, diversified life sciences company, with a proprietary line of CBD & CBG infused Supplement chewing gums (Flavors: Pomegranate, Blood Orange, Peach-Lemon, Pear Bellini, Mint, Black Currant) as well as an ongoing Pharmaceutical Development initiative, today announced that it has commenced development of its 1st full spectrum Cannabidiol (“CBD”) infused edibles product line.  The Company plans to develop this above referenced product line, with the following attributes: Kosher Certified, Halal Certified, Vegan Formulation, Dairy-Free, Infused with Full Spectrum Hemp Extract (“Full Spectrum”), All-Natural Flavors, Sugar Free/Diabetic Friendly Version(s), and Full Adherence to U.S. Federal Laws & Regulations.  The Company expects to provide concrete details about this proposed full spectrum product line within the near term.

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Tauriga Sciences Inc. to Commence Development of its 1st Full Spectrum CBD Infused Edibles Product Line

New Positive Phase 1/2 Interim Data Presented at WORLDSymposium™ Shows Neurocognitive Development of Young MPS IIIA Patients Preserved up to Three…

In addition to preservation of neurocognitive development with ABO-102 in MPS IIIA, new clinical results of ABO-102 in MPS IIIA and ABO-101 in MPS IIIB continue to show dose-dependent and sustained reductions in disease-specific biomarkers, denoting clear biologic effects

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New Positive Phase 1/2 Interim Data Presented at WORLDSymposium™ Shows Neurocognitive Development of Young MPS IIIA Patients Preserved up to Three...