Loulou Foundation Shares IRDiRC Goals 2017-2027: New Rare Disease Research Goals for the Next Decade
LONDON, August 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
The Loulou Foundation, dedicated to tackling CDKL5 Deficiency, is pleased to share this announcement by the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC), the multi-national consortium of private, non-profit, and governmental organizations dedicated to working collaboratively for the advancement of therapeutic development for rare diseases, of which it is a member:
IRDiRC is proud to announce the new vision and goals for 2017-2027. IRDiRC, officially launched in 2011, was originally conceived with two main goals: to contribute to the development of 200 new therapies and the means to diagnose most rare diseases by the year 2020. The last six years have seen considerable progress on these goals: the goal to deliver 200 new therapies was achieved in early 2017 - three years earlier than expected - and the goal for diagnostics is within reach. These accomplishments were celebrated at the 3rd IRDiRC Conference in Paris in February 2017.
In light of this, IRDiRC initiated a year-long collaborative process to devise a new set of global rare disease goals for the upcoming decade. IRDiRC aims to accelerate progress in the short-term with three goals for the Consortium, and ambitiously push the limits of what is currently possible in the longer term with an audacious vision for the field, all with rare disease patients' lives in mind.
The new vision: Enable all people living with a rare disease to receive an accurate diagnosis, care, and available therapy within one year of coming to medical attention.
In order to work towards this bold and ambitious vision, IRDiRC has set three goals for the next decade:
1. All patients coming to medical attention with a suspected rare disease will be diagnosed within one year if their disorder is known in the medical literature; all currently undiagnosable individuals will enter a globally coordinated diagnostic and research pipeline.
2. 1000 new therapies for rare diseases will be approved, the majority of which will focus on diseases without approved options.
3. Methodologies will be developed to assess the impact of diagnoses and therapies on rare disease patients.
The progress on the previous goals has shown that the international rare diseases research community is eager to share knowledge and experience, and work collaboratively across borders in order to bring diagnoses and therapies to patients. These new goals can only be achieved with fundamental changes to the way science is conducted, shared, and applied to the care of rare disease patients. IRDiRC members have committed to catalyze such changes and we hope that others will share and help with this commitment to action. It is time to build new bridges and raise the bar for rare diseases research worldwide.
For more detailed information on the past progress and future actions, please read three papers that have just been published by IRDiRC:
- Nature Commentary: http://www.nature.com/uidfinder/10.1038/548158c
- CTS Past Perspective: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cts.12501/full
- CTS Future Perspective: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cts.12500/full
To apply to become a member of IRDiRC, please see the below link:
About the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC):
IRDiRC was formed to unite public and private sector funders of research, patient advocacy groups, and scientific researchers to advance rare diseases research worldwide. For more information about how IRDiRC is accelerating rare diseases research progress with the ultimate goal of improved health for people living with rare diseases worldwide, visit http://www.irdirc.org.
About the Loulou Foundation:
Loulou Foundation is a private non-profit UK foundation dedicated to advancing research into the understanding and development of therapeutics for CDKL5 deficiency disorder. The Foundation has already funded important research projects at leading universities in the US and Europe, with a total of 24 separate projects in 34 labs at 26 different institutions so far, enabling the focused research of over 100 scientists. In October 2015 and again in October 2016 the foundation also held an international symposium at The Wellcome Trust in London, the CDKL5 Forum, attended by more than 100 leading researchers from around the world. It has also launched the online portal to enable enhanced collaboration by researchers, visit http://www.louloufoundation.org and http://www.cdkl5forum.org.
Press Contact:
Laura Moss
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+44(0)20-7284-6969
SOURCE Loulou Foundation
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