Press Releases :

On 25 June 2009, the Plateforme de Ressources Biologiques (PRB or Biological Resource Platform) at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris will be inaugurated. This new platform brings together several biobanks under the same roof: Myobank, the muscle tissue bank created by the Institut de Myologie-AFM (Myology Institute - French Muscular Dystrophy Association), the NeuroCEB EIG, a tissue bank for research into neurodegenerative diseases, and the tumour and brain tissue banks collected by AP-HP (the Public Health Organisation serving Paris). The aim is to stimulate biomedical research by providing both French and foreign research scientists with a very broad range of human biological material samples, as along with the corresponding clinical, biological and genetic information.

On 22 June, at the 8th annual conference of the "Société Francophone de Thérapie Cellulaire et Génique" (French-speaking Cellular and Gene Therapy Society) in Paris, Anne Galy, Généthon research director of the Inserm unit, will be presented the 2009 Biotherapy prize awarded by Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. For 12 years, this annual prize has been presented to a French researcher leading an innovative project in the fields of cellular therapy, gene therapy or immunotherapy.

With no less than 8 publications in major international scientific journals in just a few weeks, Institut de Myologie (Myology Institute) research teams* have demonstrated their leading role in the progress of knowledge and the fight against neuromuscular disease. Resulting from years of work and investments made possible by Telethon donations, some of these results are helping to improve understanding of the diseases, while others provide innovative research tools and prepare future clinical trials.

Launched by the AFM (French Muscular Dystrophy Association) and IBM, with the collaboration of the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) and French universities, the Decrypthon programme aims to boost research in the field of proteomics and genomics using “grid” technologies, combining the use of supercomputers and/or the computers of individual internet users. Integrated into the World Community Grid (WCG), Decrypthon is now launching phase 2 of the Help Cure Muscular Dystrophy (HCMD) project, led by Pierre et Marie Curie University (UPMC). The objective is to determine the interactions between 2,280 proteins involved in neuromuscular diseases or linked to heart or brain diseases. Scientists are seeking the assistance of 150,000 internet users for a one-year period to help perform the billions of calculations required for the project. All web users are invited to enrol now on www.decrypthon.fr.

€104,911,383: the grand total raised by Téléthon 2008, held on 5 and 6 December. Téléthon 2008 was organized by the AFM (Association Française contre les Myopathies – French Muscular Dystrophy Association) and France Télévisions Group channels, with support from the Radio France Group stations. This sum makes up more than 110% of the final count shown at the end of the thirty-hour-long programme (€95,200,125).