Myasthenia GravisMyasthenia gravis (MG) is a rare, but not exceptional, autoimmune disease that affects at least one in seven thousand of the population (1.33/10,000) and probably one per five thousand (2/10,000).

Health authorities know it as an orphan disease. In Europe, these are defined as diseases that occur in fewer than five in ten thousand or where no acceptable cure exists. In the US they are diseases causing fewer than 200,000 cases in the total population.

MG is characterized by muscular fatigue leading to extreme weakness. The fatigue is caused by the loss of ability to convert nerve impulses into muscle contraction. Underlying these symptoms is an autoimmune disease. The patient's immune system produces antibodies that attack the docking sites, or receptors, on the nerve/muscle interface.

As these receptor sites are destroyed, the neurotransmitter acetylcholine is increasingly unable to transmit the nerve impulse by attaching to a receptor site. While unattached it is rapidly broken down by the enzyme cholinesterase. The nerve continues to send impulses until the muscle reacts and thus the nerve becomes exhausted.

Usually the disease begins in a mild form. Typical first symptoms are associated with the eyelid, sight, speech and swallowing. Development is unpredictable. The condition may stabilize, regress or progress. It affects muscles controlling voluntary movement and those associated with actions such as swallowing and breathing. If MG progresses, symptoms will appear in the arms and abdomen and subsequently in the legs. Eventually the respiratory muscles get also involved.

CuraVac is now raising funds to take the myasthenia gravis therapeutic vaccine through Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials.