Page 9 - Mobility Management, January 2019

Pride Mobility Products Sells Lifts & Ramps Division
Pride Mobility Products has sold its vehicle lifts and ramps division to Harmar Mobility LLC.
In a December news announcement, Pride said the move “allows Pride Mobility to further focus its efforts on developing consumer-driven mobility products in its scooter, power chair and lift chair product lines.”
Pride’s vehicle lifts included the Outlander and Backpacker lines. The manufacturer also offered rubber threshold ramps.
Pride Mobility Chairman/CEO Scott Meuser said of
the deal, “We are pleased that Harmar has acquired
our lifts and ramps division. Our business is about our consumers, and this change allows us to give consumers
more of what they desire in our mobility products. We know that Harmar will continue to offer the same quality and support for our lifts and ramps, providing a seamless transition for our customers.”
Harmar, headquartered in Sarasota, Fla., sells stairlifts, wheelchair and scooter lifts, and platform lifts.
“The acquisition of the Pride Vehicle Lifts and Ramps division is consistent with our strategy to build on our leadership position in vehicle lifts,” said Harmar CEO Steve Dawson in a news announcement. “The Pride team has built an impressive product line, and we are excited to continue to develop and grow these products along- side the Harmar brand.” m
New Gene Therapy Drug
for SMA Gets FDA Priority Review
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted a filing application and will give priority review to a new drug to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) Type 1.
In a news announcement, Cure SMA described the drug — AVXS-101, by Novartis — as “an investigational gene replacement therapy for the treatment of SMA Type 1.” The drug, now known as Zolgensma, “is designed to address the genetic root cause of SMA Type 1, a deadly neuromuscular disease with limited treatment options.”
Intravenous, One-Time Delivery
Cure SMA added that regulatory action related to the priority review is expected in May 2019. The filing with the FDA is for an intravenous delivery of the gene therapy. In clinical trials, study participants were infants less than 9 months old who had SMA Type 1.
Children with SMA Type 1 have a defective or missing SMN1 gene, and “rapidly lose the motor neurons respon- sible for muscle functions such as breathing, swallowing, speaking and walking.” Without treatment, children with this most severe form of SMA usually die by the age of 2.
Zolgensma is described as a single, one-time infusion that replaces the missing or defective SMN1 gene with a working version of the gene. The replacement improves “motor neuron function and survival,” Cure SMA said.
David Lennon, President of AveXis, said, “As a one-time infusion that addresses the genetic root cause of
SMA without the need for repeat dosing, Zolgensma represents a potentially significant therapeutic advance for these patients and their families.”
AveXis, the company that created Zolgensma, was acquired by Novartis in 2018.
New Milestones Achieved
In the clinical trial, 15 children who had SMA Type 1 were dosed with Zolgensma. At 24 months, all 15 study partic- ipants were “alive and without the need for permanent ventilation,” Cure SMA reported. And 92 percent of the study participants could sit unassisted for more than
five seconds, “a milestone never achieved in the natural history of SMA Type 1.”
Cure SMA is a national organization dedicated to SMA awareness, support for families living with SMA, and research to develop treatments for SMA. The organiza- tion’s annual conference — a combined event for fami- lies and researchers — takes place in June in Anaheim, Calif. For more information on the event, visit www. curesma.org.
Spinal muscular atrophy is the number-one genetic cause of death for young children. m
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