Visual Pathways Involvement in Friedreich’s Ataxia Patients Without Macular Impairment

Parisi, V.; Barbano, L.; Di Renzo, A.; Dell’Aquila, C.; D’Andrea, M.; Castelluzzo, A.M.; Colacino, G.; Gioiosa, V.; Coppola, G.; Casali, C.; et al. Visual Pathways Involvement in Friedreich’s Ataxia Patients Without Macular Impairment. J. Clin. Med. 2026, 15, 6097. doi:10.3390/jcm15156097 

 Fourteen FA patients (14 eyes; mean age 38.64 ± 8.21 years) without functional or structural macular abnormalities, confirmed by multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG) and spectral domain–optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), and 20 age-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Patients were classified as late-onset (FA1, disease onset > 25 years) or early-onset (FA2, disease onset < 25 years). All participants underwent comprehensive ophthalmological and neurological evaluations. RGC function and visual pathway conduction were assessed through simultaneous pattern electroretinogram (PERG) and VEP recordings using 60′ and 15′ checkerboard stimuli. Retino-cortical time (RCT) was calculated as the difference between VEP P100 and PERG P50 implicit times. Statistical analyses included a general linear model. Results: 60′ PERG amplitude (A) was significantly (p < 0.01) reduced in the FA group compared to the Control group. FA patients showed significantly delayed 60′ and 15′ VEP ITs and significantly increased 60′ and 15′ RCT values, particularly in the FA1 group. In late-onset patients, no significant relationships were found between age at onset of disease and all electrophysiological parameters (60′ and 15′ VEP and PERG ITs and As and RCTs). Conclusions: In our selected FA, RCG function and neural conduction along the post-retinal visual pathways are impaired. The abnormal neuronal conduction is greater in late-onset FA patients and is not related to patients’ age and the age at the onset of the disease. The duration of the disease has a slight effect on the post-retinal neural conduction on small optic nerve fibers.

BRD4 recruitment into HP1 condensates desilences transcription without erasure of repressive chromatin

Brandon, C.J., Robinson-Thiewes, S., Kaulage, M. et al. BRD4 recruitment into HP1 condensates desilences transcription without erasure of repressive chromatin. Nat Cell Biol (2026). doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02044-1 

 How genes are desilenced without erasure of repressive chromatin is a poorly understood phenomenon. A dominant mode of repression occurs through methylation of lysine 9 of histone H3 (H3K9me3), a mark that engages heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) to drive chromatin compaction and transcriptional silencing. The erasure and replacement of this repressive mark with acetyl/acyl groups recruits positive factors such as BRD4/BET to elicit gene transcription. Here we report that, in Friedreich’s ataxia, a synthetic gene regulator (SynGR1/SynTEF1) licenses transcription across repressive chromatin without removal or replacement of H3K9me3 or HP1. By recruiting BRD4/BET into repressive GAA repeats in frataxin (FXN), SynGR1 creates a paradoxical state wherein gene transcription and repressive chromatin coexist. Contrary to convention, we find that BRD4 partitions into phase separated HP1 condensates in vitro and into HP1 puncta in patient-derived cells, thus offering a mechanistic explanation for desilencing transcription without the dispersal of mesoscale repressive chromatin. More broadly, our study highlights the dynamic nature of repressive chromatin and the context dependence of epigenetic marks in regulating gene expression

Larimar Therapeutics Reports Second Quarter 2026 Financial and Business Update

BALA CYNWYD, Pa., Aug. 04, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Larimar Therapeutics, Inc. (Larimar). “Open label (OL) study data announced in June further reinforce the disease-modifying potential of nomlabofusp, demonstrating continued directional improvements in key clinical endpoints over time alongside a well-characterized safety profile. Following receipt of minutes from a successful Type B multidisciplinary pre-BLA meeting with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the first module of our rolling Biologics License Application (BLA) has been submitted, with completion expected in the second half of 2026. We continue to see strong enthusiasm from patients and investigators as we advance the OL study with additional participants dosed in July and several adults and adolescents in screening. We are also on track to initiate dosing in our global confirmatory study this quarter. Looking ahead, we are focused on execution as we work to bring forward nomlabofusp as the first potential therapy to address the underlying cause of disease for pediatric and adult patients living with Friedreich’s ataxia (FA).”

Stem Cell Transplantation in Friedreich Ataxia: Cure for Leukemia but No Effect on Neurological Progression

A. Gitman, N. Bhandari, M. Castellaro, K. Schadt, M. Cancio, and D. R. Lynch, “ Stem Cell Transplantation in Friedreich Ataxia: Cure for Leukemia but No Effect on Neurological Progression,” Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology (2026): 1–3, doi:10.1002/acn3.70455. 

After the transplant, her neurologic disease progressed similarly to other patients, but her blood frataxin levels returned to normal and cardiac hypertrophy decreased. This shows that FRDA patients can be treated with bone marrow transplantation, but such treatment alone has no direct effect on progression of neurologic disease.

Adjuvia Therapeutics Closes $8 Million Series Seed Financing to Advance Novel Mitochondrial Disease Therapy into the Clinic

Jul 29, 2026. SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Adjuvia Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing therapeutics to treat mitochondrial dysfunction and disease, today announced the closing of an $8 million Series Seed financing. The financing will support the submission of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for Adjuvia's lead candidate, ATI-105, later this summer, followed by the initiation of the Phase 1 clinical trial in healthy volunteers in Fall 2026. Adjuvia also plans to begin a Phase 1/2 study in patients with Friedreich's ataxia in early 2027.

Goldenrod Therapeuticsare committed to developing a next-generation phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitor designed to address serious neurological conditions, including Friedreich’s ataxia

Goldenrod Therapeutics is a portfolio company of Fannin based in Houston, Texas. We are committed to developing a next-generation phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitor designed to address serious neurological conditions, including Friedreich’s ataxia, other neurodegenerative diseases, substance use disorders (SUDs), and pain. 

Neurophysiological assessment of disease severity in Friedreich’s Ataxia: a study of brainstem auditory and visual evoked potentials

Maccora S, Quartetti U, Lima SM, Rini N, Cucchiara M, Agnello L, Gambino CM, Brighina F, Ciaccio M, Di Stefano V. Neurophysiological assessment of disease severity in Friedreich's Ataxia: a study of brainstem auditory and visual evoked potentials. Clin Neurophysiol. 2026 Aug;188:2111933. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2026.2111933. Epub 2026 May 14. PMID: 42143837. 

 BAEPs and p-VEPs are highly prevalent and closely associated with clinical severity in chronic FRDA, outperforming tested serum biomarkers. Evoked potentials provide accessible, non-invasive, quantitative candidate biomarkers for severity assessment and longitudinal monitoring in FRDA, supporting their use in clinical practice and trial design when fluid markers are inconclusive.

Omaveloxolone Driven NRF2 Activation as a Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Pulmonary Hypertension

Omaveloxolone Driven NRF2 Activation as a Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Pulmonary Hypertension. Huang, Chuangjia, Bai, June, Luo, Ang, Yang, Lei, Wang, Xingting, Dang, Linlin, Bao, Changlei, Zhu, Jinsheng, Chen, Zixuan, Wu, Bitao, Long, Jintao, Feng, Jieyi, Luo, Zinan, Xiao, Yingying, Sun, Hanliang, Liang, Shuxin, Zhang, Li, Hua, Jing, Gou, Demin, Desai, Ankit A., Li, Li, Zhang, Caojin, Chu, Aiai, Tang, Haiyangdoi:10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.126.26711 Published Online: 2026-07-27 

 NRF2 expression and nuclear localization were reduced in PH lungs and hypoxia-exposed cells, whereas Omaveloxolone restored NRF2 activity and increased downstream antioxidant enzymes. In endothelial cells, Omaveloxolone reduced oxidative stress, suppressed inflammatory signaling, and inhibited endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition. In smooth muscle cells, it attenuated oxidative stress and normalized abnormal proliferation, migration, and apoptosis. Omaveloxolone reduced HIF (hypoxia-inducible factor)-2α accumulation in endothelial cells and inhibited HIF-1α stabilization in smooth muscle cells. NRF2 knockdown attenuated these effects, supporting pathway dependency. Omaveloxolone attenuated PH, reduced right ventricular hypertrophy and vascular remodeling, and improved right ventricular function across hypoxia, monocrotaline, and sugen/hypoxia models under both preventive and therapeutic regimens.

Larimar Therapeutics Reports Positive Open Label Data and Submission of First Module of Rolling BLA for Accelerated Approval of Nomlabofusp for Friedreich’s Ataxia

June 29, 2026. BALA CYNWYD, Pa., June 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Larimar Therapeutics, Inc. (Larimar)  a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for complex rare diseases, today announced it has submitted the first module of its rolling Biologics License Application (BLA) submission to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for accelerated approval of nomlabofusp. The OL study is evaluating the safety and tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK), and frataxin (FXN) levels in skin and buccal cells, along with exploratory pharmacodynamic (PD) markers (lipid profiles and gene expression) and clinical outcomes following long-term subcutaneous administration of nomlabofusp. The OL study protocol has now been amended to include children 2-11 years of age, adolescents and adults who have not participated in a prior nomlabofusp study.

Characterizing Friedreich’s ataxia cardiomyopathy with serial cardiac magnetic resonance imagings

Cripe, L. H., Alvarado, C., Hayes, E. A., Krishnamurthy, R., Gunsaulus, M. E., Waldrop, M. A., & Nandi, D. (2026). Characterizing Friedreich’s ataxia cardiomyopathy with serial cardiac magnetic resonance imagings. Annals of Pediatric Cardiology, 19(4), 364–373. doi:10.4103/apc.apc_22_26 

In this exploratory study, CMR demonstrated patterns of septal hypertrophy, lateral wall fibrosis, and trends toward declining ventricular function. Findings were largely nonsignificant and should be considered hypothesis-generating. Larger, multicenter studies are needed to clarify the role of CMR in disease progression and clinical management.