\n\tBC Children’s Hospital will soon be able to run more clinical trials for drugs that could potentially save the lives of patients with hard-to-cure medical conditions \u2013 patients like Emmett Willms.<\/p>\n
\n\tToday, Emmett is eight years old. But doctors never expected him to live this long.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYour world is shattered when you receive a diagnosis like we received,” said his father Josh Willms.<\/p>\n
\n\tAt five months old, Emmett was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhen I learned about SMA as a pediatric resident, children with SMA die within the first year,” said Dr. Quynh Doan, the senior director with the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute.<\/p>\n
\n\t“And Emmett is now having some time with his family \u2026 He\u2019s a little boy who has had more years than we could have imagined,” she added.<\/p>\n
\n\tHis longevity is thanks to Spinraza, a medication used to treat the disorder.<\/p>\n
\n\tEmmett was enrolled in a clinical trial for the drug, which saved his life.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWith these clinical trials, there\u2019s the opportunity for hope where there wasn\u2019t holding hope before,” said Willms.<\/p>\n
\n\tSoon, more families in B.C. will be given that hope for their children, with more clinical trials expected to start up in the new year.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe will be able to do them right here and maybe discover new treatments for conditions that currently don\u2019t have any treatments,” said Doan.<\/p>\n
\n\tBC Children\u2019s Hospital Foundation has raised $4.2 million to launch its Clinical Trials Super Hub, which will allow children in B.C. and the Yukon with severe illnesses to have access to the most innovative medications.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cClinical trials do transform lives, they save lives, and we need more of them,” said Doan.<\/p>\n