Thanks to a bad band’s 1984 contribution to “culture,” everyone’s got a sarcastic “I’m a big deal in Japan” T-shirt. But for once, a blog is writing that phrase without irony.
A drug called ibudilast (also known as MN-166) actually is a big deal in Japan, and has been treating asthma and post-stroke symptoms for about 20 years.
Now, ibudilast’s about to get a new stage and a whole new act as parent company MediciNova, Inc. studies the drug’s anti-inflammatory effects on rare, neuro-degenerative disorders in the United States. Specifically, early infantile (type-1) Krabbe disease.
Krabbe is progressive and currently uncurable: symptoms like irritability, muscle spasms, and vomiting begin by the time most infants reach their sixth month birthday, and become increasingly more severe.
Death before age two has been an unfortunate reality.
Recognizing the serious unmet treatment needs for children with Krabbe, the FDA granted ibudilast Rare Pediatric Disease Designation in January 2016. Under this program, MediciNova can seek out a priority voucher to fast-track ibudilast through the review process, and hopefully get the medication and its new indication to market that much faster.
And once ibudilast gets into US doctors’ hands, who knows how it may help?
Seriously—who knows right now? Without the drug having gone through America’s extensive clinical trial system, details are scarce at the moment on how exactly ibudilast will treat Krabbe.
But considering a two decade success streak in Japan though, chances are good that it’ll turn into a pretty big deal.
And for all the families who are touched or have been touched by Krabbe disease, we hope it’s a big deal in all the right ways.
