On June 19, 2015 PlasmaTech Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTBI), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and delivering gene therapy and plasma-based products for severe and life-threatening rare diseases, reported a name change to Abeona Therapeutics, Inc. to reflect its broader rare disease commitment (Press release, Abeona Therapeutics, JUN 19, 2015, View Source;p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2060889 [SID:1234510405]). The Company expects that its common stock will begin trading on NASDAQ on Monday, June 22, under the ticker symbol ABEO, along with announcing Abeona Therapeutics to ring the Nasdaq Stock market closing bell on Monday, June 22nd at 4:00 pm ET. Live streaming can be found at: View Source)
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"Abeona was forged from the company’s close collaborations with key stakeholders, all dedicated to transforming new biotechnology insights into breakthrough treatments for rare diseases," stated Steven Rouhandeh, Executive Chairman. "Most importantly, we have established a dedicated team of world class professionals led by Dr. Tim Miller, who will be critical to building and accelerating value for patients and shareholders."
A rare disease is one that affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. There are nearly 7,000 rare diseases, which may involve chronic illness, disability, and often, premature death. More than 25 million Americans and 30 million Europeans have a rare disease. While rare diseases can affect any age group, about 50% of people affected are children (15 million); and rare diseases account for 35% of deaths in the first year of life. These rare diseases are often poorly diagnosed, very complex, and have no treatment or not very effective treatment — over 95% of rare diseases do not have a single FDA or EMA approved drug treatment. However, most rare diseases are often caused by changes in genes — 80% are genetic in origin and can present at any stage of life.
"Effectively developing therapies for rare disease requires innovative approaches and strong collaboration between researchers, industry, regulators and patient groups," noted Tim Miller, Ph.D., President & CEO. "We believe emerging insights in gene therapy and advances in biotechnology provide significant opportunities to develop breakthrough treatments for rare diseases. Our focus is transforming the promise of our products and platforms into new treatments for severe and life-threatening rare diseases such as Sanfilippo syndromes types A and B, juvenile Batten disease, and Fanconi anemia."
About the Abeona Name Change: Abeona (pronounced ey-bee-ohn-uh) is the Roman Goddess who protects children as they take their first steps away from home.