- 2023 recipients include patient advocacy
organizations in Australia and
Brazil -
SOUTH
PLAINFIELD, N.J., Sept. 7,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:
PTCT) today announced the two recipients of its 2023 STRIVE Awards
for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Through the STRIVE program, the
company awards grants to non-profit patient advocacy organizations
serving the Duchenne community. This year's grants will fund
projects focused on developing a digital health app to support
patients transitioning to adulthood in Australia and the expansion of a power soccer
(also known as powerchair football) program in Brazil.
"The 2023 STRIVE grant recipients have demonstrated a strong
commitment to their local Duchenne communities. We are excited
by the additional support they will be able to provide patients and
their families through this grant funding," said Mary Frances Harmon, senior vice president,
Corporate Relations, PTC Therapeutics. "As we near a decade of
the STRIVE Awards program, we are proud to continue to provide
organizations with support to expand their services for the
Duchenne community."
There are two categories for the 2023 STRIVE Awards: Innovative
and Transition to Adulthood. Innovative programs are those that
help address the unmet needs of the rare disease community,
Transition to Adulthood programs support young people
with Duchenne as they transition into independent adults. This
category supports those living with Duchenne to lead independent,
fulfilling, and rewarding lives. PTC received a total of 46
applications from organizations around the world this year.
The 2023 STRIVE Awards recipients are:
Innovative Category:
- The Brazil-based Blue Angels
(Adapted Sports Association) promotes an improvement in the quality
of life of people with disabilities through high performance
training in adapted sports. Their vision fosters social inclusion
of people with disabilities through adapted sports activities. With
the STRIVE grant, Blue Angels will expand its power soccer program,
a type of soccer played by people who have any kind of motor
limitation and use wheelchairs. The organization will hire
professionals to assist with the program, increase the number of
players and acquire additional equipment.
Transition to Adulthood Category:
- As patients with Duchenne transition into adulthood and live
independently, they manage their own medical care. The Australia-based Save Our Sons Duchenne
Foundation (SOSDF) plans to develop a digital health app to help
young men living with Duchenne across Australia. The app will help users actively
manage their health to be better prepared both physically and
mentally, thereby reducing the burden of care on themselves, carers
and the health system. Save Our Sons will work with University of Queensland to develop the app.
"It has been such a rewarding experience to be part of the
judging panel for the STRIVE Awards Program. The applications this
year showed innovation and determination to meet the needs of the
Duchenne community," said Joy Bartnett
Leffler, MLA, NASW, CSE, owner of MedEdInfo, and STRIVE
Awards Review Committee member.
About the STRIVE Awards Program
PTC launched the
Strategies to Realize Innovation, Vision, and Empowerment (STRIVE)
Awards program in 2015 to support initiatives that benefit the
Duchenne community by increasing awareness, diagnosis, and
education, and fostering the development of future patient
advocates. Each year, an independent panel of external experts with
knowledge in rare diseases, patient advocacy and funding
initiatives, judge the entries for innovation, vision, and
empowerment. Forty-one projects supporting the Duchenne community
have received STRIVE grants since the program's inception.
For further information about the program and the 2023 award
recipients, please visit the STRIVE Awards page on PTC's
website at: www.ptcstriveawards.com.
About Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Primarily
affecting males, Duchenne is a rare and fatal genetic disorder that
results in progressive muscle weakness from early childhood and
leads to premature death in the mid-20s due to heart and
respiratory failure. It is a progressive muscle disorder caused by
the lack of functional dystrophin protein. Dystrophin is critical
to the structural stability of all muscles, including skeletal,
diaphragm, and heart muscles. Patients with Duchenne can lose the
ability to walk (loss of ambulation) as early as 10 years old,
followed by loss of the use of their arms. Duchenne patients
subsequently experience life-threatening lung complications,
requiring the need for ventilation support, and heart complications
in their late teens and 20s.
About PTC Therapeutics, Inc.
PTC is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery,
development and commercialization of clinically differentiated
medicines that provide benefits to patients with rare disorders.
PTC's ability to innovate to identify new therapies and to globally
commercialize products is the foundation that drives investment in
a robust and diversified pipeline of transformative medicines.
PTC's mission is to provide access to best-in-class treatments for
patients who have little to no treatment options. PTC's strategy is
to leverage its strong scientific and clinical expertise and global
commercial infrastructure to bring therapies to patients. PTC
believes this allows it to maximize value for all its stakeholders.
To learn more about PTC, please visit us
at www.ptcbio.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram,
LinkedIn and Twitter at @PTCBio.
For More Information:
Investors:
Kylie
O'Keefe
+1 (908) 300-0691
kokeefe@ptcbio.com
Media:
Jeanine
Clemente
+1 (908) 912-9406
jclemente@ptcbio.com
Patient Organizations:
Mary
Frances Harmon
+1 (908) 912-9205 or (866) 282-5873
mharmon@ptcbio.com
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ptc-therapeutics-2023-strive-awards-program-funds-initiatives-supporting-the-duchenne-patient-community-301919700.html
SOURCE PTC Therapeutics, Inc.