With an overwhelming majority of votes the British parliament has approved of legislation which allows the use of the mitochondrion replacement technique. This brilliant technique has been developed by the University of Newcastle with substantial funding by patient organisations. In simple words the technique replaces the malfunctioning mitochondrion of the mother by a healthy mitochondrion of a healthy woman. And as a result the babies born with this technique do not have nor carry the dreadful mitochondrial disorder. The British patient organisations MDC and The Lily Foundation have done a great deal of work lobbying for this legislation. The mitochondrial community worldwide is thankful for this!

For more information: http://www.muscular-dystrophy.org/ and http://www.thelilyfoundation.org.uk 

UK parliament

The UK has now become the first country to approve laws to allow the creation of babies from three people.

Following the breakthrough of the House of Commons vote in the UK earlier this year, mitochondrial replacement IVF techniques has passed its final legislative obstacle after being approved by the House of Lords in the last week of February.

In the debate, health minister Lord Howe said there was an opportunity to offer “real hope” to families. The UK is the first country to approve the procedure. The whole international mitochondrial community will now closely watch the developments in the UK. The first families will soon be treated by the Newcastle researchers. The effectiveness and safety of the procedures will attract a lot of scientific attention.

IMP has been a strong supporter and advocate for the mitochondrial replacement IVF techniques. In close cooperation with the British patient organizations support has been given to the discussions. IMP will keep you informed about this issue.

May  26,  2015

NIJMEGEN – Khondrion, the Dutch biopharmaceutical company focusing on small molecule therapeutics for mitochondrial diseases, announces today the initiation of a Phase 1 Clinical Trial with its frontrunner compound KH176. The Trial will be a randomized, double blind, placebo-­‐ controlled, dose-­‐escalating study.

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