In the Spotlight with Pam Andrews

May 2022

Pam Andrews

Mom to Belle & Abby, NPC
Firefly Fund, Co-Founder and Executive Director

Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Pam Andrews. I’m a sixth generation Texan and was born in a small town just outside of Austin called Brenham, Texas. You may have heard of it before, as it’s the home of Blue Bell Ice Cream. My parents met when in graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin. My mom had just graduated from law school and the only job she could find after graduation (1972), as a new female attorney in Texas, was working as a secretary in a law firm in Brenham, Texas. I have three sisters (Lisa, Jessica and Leslie) and a brother (Sean, who passed away just seven months ago).  We didn’t stay in Brenham long and moved back to Austin when I was three years old. Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s was a bit idyllic, to be honest. My siblings and I would play outside with neighborhood friends for 6-8 hours at a time on the weekends. Our bicycles got us around and we walked to and from our neighborhood school during the week. My parents worked hard and a lot and my siblings and I looked after each other. I remember using a kitchen stool to make dinner for my sisters. I wasn’t tall enough to see the top of the stove so I would get a step stool and stand on it and make dinner that way. I was probably seven years old. My grandfather (and great grandfather actually) were both doctors in Ft. Worth, Texas and Alpine, Texas. Truth be told, that was really my only exposure to healthcare or the medical profession when I was growing up. Grandaddy made house calls, delivering babies at home and I remember that he pierced kids’ ears in his office. There was the occasional penicillin shot when someone was sick, but otherwise it was delivering babies and piercing ears. My father, later in my 20’s, was diagnosed with and died from Cancer. I definitely came to understand that people get sick. However, if you had told me in 1978 or even 1994 that I would later have two beautiful daughters who would both be diagnosed with a rare genetic neurodegenerative disease, I would have thought that you were certifiable. As a young girl, I would have never fathomed this life.

I live in Austin with my husband, Chris Andrews, our two beautiful daughters, Belle (12yo) and Abby (7yo) and our two miniature poodles, Lady and Lucy. For fun you will find me taking walks in the neighborhood with my dogs or hanging out in our backyard, by the pool with my girls, and spending time with the little family that Chris and I have made. The girls are filled with joy and laughter and they truly enjoy life and enjoy talking with people in their little lives and they laugh hysterically at each other’s wild antics. They love music and singing and being silly little girls. It is my greatest joy in life, and honor really, to be Belle and Abby’s mama. It is what I enjoy the most in life.

When did you receive Belle and Abby’s diagnosis and what led to this?
Belle was diagnosed first after a diagnostic odyssey that spanned several years and included countless appointments with doctors and specialists. Leading up to Belle’s diagnosis what concerned us the most was her tripping and falling, which seemed to be getting worse with each passing day. Belle’s platelets were also always low and her spleen was enlarged. Those were the early signs that kept me tossing and turning at night. And she developed a tremor at about 3yo. For years I was told that she was within the normal range and not to worry. I was a first time mom so I didn’t have a neurotypical child as a reference, but something inside of me kept nudging me to continue pressing for answers. My nieces and nephews and Belle’s friends would come over and I would talk with other moms and no one seemed to have the same types of symptoms that we were seeing.

Finally, we met with a young doctor who was also a mom – she agreed with us that something wasn’t right. Her name is Dr. Amy White and she is now on the BOD of Firefly Fund. Belle was about 4 1/2 at the time and Abby was about 9 months old.  Belle’s diagnosis was eventually made through whole exome sequencing. It was suggested that we test Abby immediately, she was 18 months old at the time and had absolutely no reason to believe that she also had NPC. It was terrifying. As you might imagine, our pain more than doubled with Abby’s diagnosis, just 10 days after Belle.

How did you learn about NNPDF?
We learned about the NNPDF really slowly after diagnosis. Initially, the day of our diagnosis, we were given a Make A Wish form and told to take the girls to Disney World and to enjoy them. The doctor made it clear that there were no approved drugs and nothing that could be done. The only information that was given to us was a one pager on NPC and the Make A Wish form. We left the doctors office and made some calls to immediately take steps to form the Firefly Fund. Initially, we thought we were going to have to figure it all out on our own. Over the course of the next few months we had countless calls with NPC families and researchers and clinicians. We were so relieved to learn from some of those early conversations with members from the NPC Community that there was a patient organization and several mature family-led, patient inspired organizations that had been funding research for over 25 years.  We began to feel the weight of the girls’ diagnosis lift. We realized that we didn’t have to do this by ourselves.

The NNPDF was in the middle of a transition when we were diagnosed. They were looking for a new leader and for a Board Chair. I think we first met Joslyn and Justin in 2018 and that is when we really began to get to know and work with the NNPDF.  It was through the newborn screening work that Firefly Fund does that I began to really understand the significance and importance of a national patient organization in a rare disease community. The NPC Community’s interactions with the healthcare stakeholders like the medical profession, with regulators, with public health officials, with drug developers and companies, all rely on a healthy patient organization. The work that the NNPDF does is vital to the overall success of the NPC Community.

Why is newborn screening important to the Niemann Pick community and what difference can it make in the future?
Newborn Screening is a public health service that reaches 4 million babies born in the United States each year. The newborn screening program ensures that all babies are screened for certain serious life-limiting conditions at birth, and for those babies with the conditions, it allows doctors to start treatment before some of the harmful effects happen. Newborn screening is performed soon after the birth of your baby, and in most cases, while you are still in the hospital. Specific protocols for newborn screening follow up vary from state to state, as does the list of conditions screened for.  

It is my opinion that newborn screening is the single most important public health program that exists worldwide. As Belle and Abby’s mom, I understand first hand the horror of watching your child slip through your fingers while searching for answers.  The diagnostic odyssey that NPC families are forced to travel is barbaric and unnecessary in 2022. Newborn screening will provide families with information about the health status of their newborn, which will allow for early intervention. We know, and there is consensus among NPC expert clinicians, that early intervention in the NPC patient improves health outcomes. Chris and I live this reality every single day in our home as we watch the trajectory of our two daughters’ lives go in two completely different directions due to the fact that one was diagnosed before any visible signs or symptoms of the disease and one was not.  

Shortly after our diagnosis, Chris and I sought out the counsel of someone who has become our dear friend and mentor, Dr. Philip Reilly. At the time in 2016, I’d just finished his book, Orphan: The Quest to Save Children with Rare Genetic Disorders and I wanted to hear his perspective regarding where he thought there were unmet needs in the NPC Community. Dr. Reilly was the first person to encourage us to focus on newborn screening for the NPC community. He wisely explained to us, from the perspective of a venture capitalist mixed with his experience as a clinical geneticist (he has a law degree, as well), that if NPC patients can be identified at birth then what will happen as a result is that NPC patients will have plenty of treatments in no time. He explained that newborn screening for NPC would accelerate the drug development process because we would be helping “them” to help us. 

In addition to finding our patients early, newborn screening is important to the NPC Community because it will help researchers and clinicians better understand the incidence and prevalence of the disease. And data collected through newborn screening pilot studies, such as ScreenPlus in New York, will help us better understand the heterogeneity of the disease and how the variability in onset of NPC patients impacts families and the public health system. Through newborn screening, we are essentially introducing a whole new disease to the medical community – doctors, hospitals, payors, drug companies, regulators, labs, and the list goes on.  We’ve all witnessed over the past two years the havoc that a new disease state can wreck on the healthcare system and for teeny tiny, ultra rare disease groups like NPC, the onus is on the NPC Community to demonstrate that we are ready to be in the public health service referred to around the world as newborn screening.  

The process is long and arduous. There is zero room for errors. We can not misdiagnose newborns. We have to demonstrate that our short and long term clinical follow up protocols improve health outcomes for those patients identified at birth. Once we are able to identify our patients early, before any visible signs or symptoms of the disease, we will see improved clinical trial outcomes, which will lead to therapeutic approvals and maybe even therapeutic options for our loved ones.  

How can families get involved with newborn screening efforts?
I think the most important thing that families can do is to look for ways to advocate for newborn screening for NPC at home. Every state health department has a newborn screening advisory committees and in all 50 states there are rare disease parents on those committees. I sit on the Newborn Screening Advisory Committee in Texas. As I mentioned earlier, newborn screening lists vary from state to state.  Ultimately, we will need NPC to be added to every single state newborn screening list. Right now, through ScreenPlus, the NPC Community is collecting evidence necessary to be added to these lists. Once we are added to the RUSP, which I believe can happen within the next 3-4 years, we will need to immediately turn our attention to the states. Anything that parents can do to ensure that NPC is “in line” for inclusion on the various state lists would be helpful. We will add this to the agenda for one of our upcoming working group calls. Please let people know that they can reach out to me if they are interested in joining.

Another thing that NPC families can do from home is sign up for the AllStripes sibling study where data is being collected and analyzed for health outcomes for siblings diagnosed at different points of disease progression. The evidence collected through the study will provide data to the newborn screening advisory committee that will decide if NPC meets the criteria for early intervention. It is really important that families sign up for this study and it can be done from the comfort of your home computer by clicking here.

What advice would you share with newly diagnosed families?
Don’t forget to breathe. Focus on the things that bring you joy rather than on the things that you can’t change or control. Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and reach out to other families. Ask a lot of questions. If someone is upset with you for asking too many questions, ask more questions. You are not alone and you don’t have to travel this rare journey alone, if you don’t want to. Reach out to families that have traveled the road before you and allow them to share their experience, strength and hope with you. The NPC Community is resilient and strong and committed to moving NPC into a new and different public health paradigm. None of us can do this alone and thank goodness we don’t have to.

What are your hopes for the future for your girls and for the Niemann-Pick community?
Gosh, everyday my focus and hope for my girls is that they are happy and that they know with every fiber of who they are that they are loved and cherished and absolutely adored. I hope and pray that they know that their life has purpose and meaning far beyond their NPC diagnosis. I hope they never let their NPC diagnosis define who they are. I hope they laugh often and that they rest easy knowing that Chris and I will be there beside them on this journey every step of the way. I believe that in Belle and Abby’s lifetime we will be able to render NPC a chronic disease. We have the tools necessary to do this in the NPC Community now and I believe that if we all work together, we can accomplish this goal. I was talking to another NPC mom just yesterday and we agreed that finding a drug cocktail to render NPC a chronic disease seems like an easy feat compared to the education and awareness that is necessary for stakeholders to move NPC into the healthcare system. The good news is that we don’t have to do it all in one day, but rather one day at a time we need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and doing the important work that we’ve been called to do in honor of those who came before us, for our loved ones and for those yet to be born with an NPC diagnosis in their future.   

I believe that the NPC Community should feel proud of all that has been accomplished in the past 25 years. I look forward to seeing what transpires over the next 25 years.

Supporting one another. Supporting our community.

May 2022 Newsletter

May 2022

NNPDF Family Support & Medical Conference

in Conjunction with INPDA Biennial Meeting

 

JOINT CONFERENCE DATES:  July 28 – August 1, 2022
NNPDF:  July 28 – 30  |  INPDA:  July 29 – August 1

Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek | Orlando, Florida

Conference Deadlines

  • Conference Registration by June 24th to receive your complimentary 2022 Family Conference shirt
  • Hotel Reservations by June 27th to receive the NNPDF hotel group rate
  • Online Registration by July 22nd on site registration will be available

DEADLINES APPROACHING!

NNPDF Cora Sterling Endurance Award

Do you know a great young person who shines for Niemann-Pick awareness? NNPDF is seeking nominations for the NNPDF Cora Sterling Endurance Award. This award is presented annually at the NNPDF Family Support & Medical Conference to a young person (under age 25) who shines in raising awareness of Niemann‐Pick disease in the community. Nomination deadline is May 31st.

NNPDF Research Fellowship Applications

NNPDF is accepting Research Fellowship Applications. The Peter G. Pentchev Niemann-Pick Type C Research Fellowship and the Edward H. Schuchman ASMD Research Fellowship are 1-year awards intended for early-stage researchers. These awards support young scientists in pursuit of independent hypotheses and encourage scholarly development about Niemann-Pick Disease.

Niemann-Pick Disease research is one of the pillars of our mission and we are proud that since 1993, NNPDF has funded 52 grants and 20 fellowships totaling over $4,000,000. Many former grantees and fellows have remained active contributors in the Niemann-Pick Disease space. Contact nnpdf@nnpdf.org with questions. Application deadline is June 1st.

INPDA - ASMD Webinar Recording Available

We are pleased to share the collaborative webinar recording entitled The impacts of olipudase alfa on pediatric patients with ASMD and their families: Results of an international survey. The webinar was hosted by the INPDA, INPDR, NNPDF, and NPUK.

Thank you to those that joined us, and to our featured speakers; Sandy Cowie, President, International Niemann-Pick Disease Alliance (INPDA), Conan Donnelly, CEO, International Niemann-Pick Disease Registry (INPDR), and Justin Hopkin, Chair, National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation (NNPDF).

Watch the recording.
View the slideshow presentation.

Join ASMD Accelerate, Help Change the Future of ASMD Care

Just over a year ago, Wylder Nation, NNPDF, and PicnicHealth launched ASMD Accelerate to help support the ASMD research community. Thank you so much to the 15 families who have contributed their child’s de-identified medical data in support of ASMD research! Every child’s story can make a difference for the future of ASMD care.

If you are interested in joining ASMD Accelerate and making a difference in the future of ASMD research, we are still enrolling new members! This research study is a way your child’s journey can contribute to ASMD research without the need for travel, lab testing, or physical record collection coordination. Additionally, if your child’s journey with ASMD has ended this study can help carry on their legacy and contribute to improving the future of ASMD care.

Visit picnichealth.com/asmd-wylder-nation or email asmdstudy@picnichealth.com with any questions.

Join ASMD Accelerate.

Pfrieger's Digest

NNPDF is pleased to share the latest edition of Pfrieger’s Digest, written by Frank Pfrieger, PhD of Niemann-Pick Selbsthiifegruppe (Germany). This publication provides a summary of research advances based on selected peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals. Read the latest issue.

Transport NPC

Cyclo Therapeutics’ May newsletter is live and shares a new column with you called “Powerful Patient Advocates.” This month features an interview with Barbara Lazarus. Read the newsletter.

Clinical Trial Update

Clinical trials are currently in progress to study and develop treatments for ASMD and NPC. The NNPDF posts new information regarding clinical trial updates as soon as it is received. Visit our Clinical Trials web page for up to date information on all clinical trials.

Update from Orphazyme: Orphazyme announces update on in-court restructuring proceedings. NNPDF has received the following press release which speaks to the progress the team has made in finding a potential path forward for arimoclomol. Read the press release.

Community News Update

Update from Orphazyme:
Orphazyme to sell to KemPharm, Inc.: NNPDF has received the following news from Orphazyme: Orphazyme A/S under In-Court-Restructuring to sell substantially all of its assets and business activities to KemPharm, Inc.
Read Orphazyme press release.
Read KemPharm press release.

We will continue to keep you informed as more information is available. If you have any questions, please contact Joslyn Crowe, NNPDF Executive Director, at jcrowe@nnpdf.org.

Update from Cyclo Therapeutics:
Cyclo Therapeutics has shared the following letter to the NPC community. Read the letter.

Surveys, Studies & Market Research

Be sure to check out our Surveys & Market Research webpage for current survey and study opportunities in the Niemann-Pick disease space. Participating in surveys and studies is important to the advancement of health options for our Niemann-Pick community members. Current surveys and studies are listed below. Contact Laurie Turner at familyservices@nnpdf.org for any questions.

Fundraising

Contributions through fundraising by NNPDF members, families and friends are used to provide services and information to individuals and families affected by NPD, as well as supporting research into finding treatments. Please continue to host and support NPD fundraisers. Awareness Events promote awareness to the general public about Niemann-Pick Disease.

If you have recently hosted a fundraising event, send us your photos and we’ll share them and details from your event in upcoming newsletters!

THANK YOU to Claudia Rae and Allison Reiter who recently hosted Facebook Fundraisers for the NNPDF! We truly appreciate your support!

Want to host your own Facebook Fundraiser? It’s easy! Visit facebook.com/fund/NNPDF to get started!

NNPDF Membership

Enrolling, confirming, or updating your membership will ensure we have accurate information for you and your family. This will help us to continue to provide you with important notifications and updates from the NNPDF.

Click here to update or enroll today!


For assistance contact Laurie at familyservices@nnpdf.org or call 920-542-4038

Emergency Hardship Program

The NNPDF Emergency Hardship Program continues to offer assistance to qualified NNPDF U.S. member families facing a crisis. Funding includes but is not limited to, specialized medical equipment, durable medical goods, utility bills (heating and cooling, electricity, phone, water and sewer), home and car repairs, and bereavement expenses. Click here for complete details and eligibility information.

Please contact Laurie Turner, Family Services Manager at 920-542-4038 or familyservices@nnpdf.org if you have any questions about this program.

            

Supporting one another. Supporting our community.

Message from NNPDF on arimoclomol

May 2022

Dear NPC Community Members,

This week, Orphazyme announced that they have reached an agreement with US-based pharma company KemPharm to acquire arimoclomol, the investigational drug candidate that Orphazyme had in development for the treatment of Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC), which is schedule to officially to occur on June 1, 2022. Under the terms of the agreement, arimoclomol will continue to be available to patients through existing early access programs. KemPharm also intends to continue to pursue the approval of arimoclomol with both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA).

We are also pleased to learn that KemPharm intends to retain the majority of Orphazyme’s remaining employees, who have learned a lot about the community through our partnership over the past several years.

We look forward to this next phase in our partnership and learning more about KemPharm and their plans to continue the development program for arimoclomol. The company has previously focused on development of novel treatments for rare central nervous system (CNS) diseases and has experience bringing other treatments to market through regulatory approval. The company also has previous experience with FDA approvals following an initial CRL (complete response letter).

As many are aware, the NPC community has faced a long road in the effort to make an approved treatment available to patients in the U.S. The decision by KemPharm to advance the development program for arimoclomol highlights the continued urgent need for us to work with industry, regulators and other stakeholders to continue this essential work. Though we still have a long way to go, we are encouraged by this news and look forward to working with the KemPharm team in the months ahead.

NNPDF leadership is meeting with KemPharm in the next few days and they have been invited to share an update at our upcoming 30th Anniversary Family Support & Medical conference.

For further details about the acquisition, see the press releases below:
Orphazyme press release
KemPharm press release

Sincerely,


Joslyn Crowe, MSW, MA
NNPDF Executive Director

Supporting one another. Supporting our community.