I cannot stress enough how important your generous commitment is to our ongoing work here at Celiac Disease Foundation. I am pleased to report that we are making real progress in focusing resources and attention on celiac disease. For example, next month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be hosting a two-day meeting at its headquarters in suburban Washington DC, known as GREAT3 (Gastroenterology Regulatory Endpoints and the Advancement of Therapeutics). The first day of the meeting will focus on Crohn’s and Colitis; the second day will focus on celiac disease.
The meetings will gather expert testimony to establish research guidelines on the populations that therapies should target and on the common benchmarks that should be used to measure the relative success and failure of the therapies. I am delighted to serve on the GREAT3 steering committee, and I am also delighted that a number of CDF’s Medical Advisory Board Members will testify at the hearing.
This FDA meeting is a HUGE step for the celiac community. First, the fact that one full day of the meeting is dedicated to celiac disease is clear evidence that treatments for celiac – beyond strict adherence to a gluten-free diet – are beginning to advance through the therapeutic pipeline. Second, it is evidence that celiac disease is finally…finally…being taken seriously by the federal government. Hopefully, federal and state research funding commensurate with the impact of the disease on the community will follow.
We will be reporting to you and, as important, to our large healthcare provider community on these proceedings. We will also be soliciting your comments on any recommendations that are put forward by the FDA. If you would like more information about the meeting now, I encourage you to read about it here.
For a summary of therapies currently in development, view here.
Once again, I thank you for your generous support of our work. And, as always, anything you can afford to give today is greatly appreciated.
To Our Health,
Marilyn G. Geller, Chief Executive Officer