Pilot Funding Makes a Difference

The mission of Friends of FSH Research is to accelerate research that will help find a treatment or cure for FSH muscular dystrophy. This strategy sometimes requires us to fund unique, novel and potentially risky research pilot projects.

Our strategy, with your support, has paid off many times since our inception in 2004! Here are two of our most recent success stories, where our initial investment garnered more than 14 times its value - or in other words, a $100 donation turns into more than $1,400 in research funding!

In 2019, we became acquainted with miRecule, Inc through our FSH Scholarship Program. We supported both the career advancement of a postdoctoral FSH researcher as well as a novel FSH therapeutic strategy. Our $70,000 investment in 2019 and 2020 helped miRecule build and test their strategy to the point where, in September 2022, miRecule received a $1 million investment from SolveFSHD to further their work.

Today, miRecule announced that they have also entered into a Strategic Collaboration with Sanofi, a global healthcare company which will further accelerate this research. (read more about that partnership here)

In February 2021, one of our Scientific Advisors brought to our attention another company, Altay Therapeutics. Their expertise looked to be something that might be of value for FSHD. Later that month, we approved a grant to fund their research, and we went onto  fund more testing of their strategy in 2022, with a total investment of $175,000.

With this funding Altay Therapeutics was able to show that their FSHD therapy was promising and worth further investigation, and on September 21, 2022, Altay received an investment of $3 million from SolveFSHD to continue this work! (read more about this investment here)