RICHMOND, June 6, 2008 — This week, the entire Virginia delegation to Congress has unanimously signed on as co-sponsors of the SMA Treatment Acceleration Act, a bill designed to increase federal support for research to develop a treatment for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the number-one inherited cause of infant death.

“This tremendous show of support and leadership will bring hope to thousands of families battling this deadly neuromuscular disorder,” said Martha Slay, president of Richmond-based FightSMA, one of the groups that is supporting the legislation.

“The Virginia delegation is setting a wonderful, bipartisan precedent for the rest of Congress and the Senate where we need to continue to build support this year for this legislation,” said Ms. Slay. “It is immensely gratifying that our home state has come through in such a big way.

“We particularly appreciate the support of Congressman Eric Cantor of Richmond, who was the original sponsor, along with Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island. We would not be where we are today without Congressman Cantor taking the lead on this legislation,” said Ms. Slay.

The SMA Treatment Acceleration Act authorizes federal funding to:

• Upgrade and unify existing SMA clinical trials sites and establish a national clinical trials network for SMA.
• Establish a Data Coordinating Center to provide expert assistance and advice to SMA clinical trials sites.
• Expand and intensify federally supported research programs with respect to pre-clinical translational research related to SMA.
• Establish a research collaborative at the National Institutes of Health to ensure cooperation across multiple Institutes regarding research related to SMA.
• Enhance and provide ongoing support to the existing SMA patient registry in order to provide for expanded research on the epidemiology of SMA.
• Establish an SMA Coordinating Committee, consisting of representatives from relevant government agencies and the public, to coordinate government activities relating to SMA, serve as the principal advisor to agency heads, and conduct a study to identify barriers to the development of drugs for treating SMA and report findings and legislative recommendations to Congress.
• Require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to collaborate with the FDA and the Coordinating Committee to make recommendations for improving and expanding existing industry incentives to promote SMA drug development.
• Establish and implement a program for providing information and education on SMA to health professionals and the general public related to advances in the diagnosis and treatment of SMA and the provision of care to SMA patients.

The SMA Treatment Acceleration Act is supported by Families of SMA, FightSMA, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and the SMA Foundation.

Co-sponsors from Virginia are: Senator John Warner, Senator Jim Webb, Congressman Eric Cantor, Congressman Rick Boucher, Congressman Jim Moran, Congresswoman Thelma Drake, Congressman Robert Wittman, Congressman Bobby Scott, Congressman Randy Forbes, Congressman Virgil Goode, Congressman Bob Goodlatte, Congressman Frank Wolf, and Congressman Tom Davis.

FightSMA, a nonprofit 501c3 corporation, was founded in Richmond, VA, in 1991 with the mission “to strategically accelerate research for a treatment and a cure for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the leading genetic cause of infant death.”

For more information, contact FightSMA at www.fightsma.org or 804.515.0080.