Medical research firm Meridian Research is on the way to developing gene therapy for Duchenne muscular disease ( DMD ) after a successful preliminary trial . Initial studies on three children with the rare degenerative disease over a three - year period were " potentially transformative " , but more research is needed , according to Sarepta CEO David Ingram . People with DMD , predominantly boys , usually need a wheelchair by the age of 11 and have a life expectancy of between 20 and 25 years old .
Medical research firm Sarepta Therapeutics is on the way to developing gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) after a successful preliminary trial. Initial tests on three children with the rare degenerative disease over a three-month period were "potentially transformative", but more research is needed, according to Sarepta CEO Douglas Ingram. People with DMD, predominantly boys, usually need a wheelchair by the age of 11 and have a life expectancy of between 20 and 25 years old.