Rare Partners presents a poster on Rapamycin project

June 2012 - Rare Partners, the Italian non profit dedicated to rare diseases, has presented a poster entitled "Exploring the potential of Rapamycin (Sirolimus) in patients with beta-thalassemia” at the 6th European Conference on Rare Diseases & Orphan Products(ECRD), held from 23 to 25 May 2012 in Brussels, Belgium.

The authors of the poster are Marco Prosdocimi, Managing Director of Rare Partners, Roberto Gambari, Director of Thal Lab at the University of Ferrara, Elio Zago and Michele Lipucci from Associazione Veneta per la Lotta alla Talassemia (AVLT).

The poster highlights the importance of the collaboration between patients organizations, academic research and a  pharmaceutical non profit company.

The lead author Dr Marco Prosdocimi commented ”the data here presented clearly show that Rapamicyn in vitro increases the level of Foetal Haemoglobin (HbF) at concentrations fully compatible with blood concentrations potentially achievable in patients. This supports the idea, originally developed by professor Gambari and his coworkers, that patients suffering from Thalassemia may benefit from a Rapamycin treatment. It is known that an increase of HbF in thalassemic patients may result in a relevant clinical improvement, such as a reduced transfusion frequency".
 

Download the RP announcement