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At the end of the television broadcast, the counter of the 2020 Telethon shows 58 290 120 euros. Despite the health crisis, which led to the cancellation of a very large number of events in towns and villages, the French people responded positively to this extraordinary Telethon: the one presenting the greatest victories of its history. Behind these victories, there are faces, first names, children, parents, changed lives, regained motions, smiles and laughter, and life who wins.

They are #SoStrong! Families who fight on a daily basis against the disease, researchers who turn genes into medicine, volunteers, donors and partners who, every year, brave the cold… Thanks to them joining forces for the past 30 years, a medical revolution is underway today! Together, let’s keep on giving children and patients the strength to heal!

Généthon, a unique scientific and human adventure, turns 30 this year. Created by a patient organization and funded by the Téléthon, this laboratory has put France at the forefront of genome exploration and of the gene therapy revolution.

What is AFM-Telethon? What are its missions? What were the highlights of 2019? The answer is in the Cure through Innovation booklet.

The World Duchenne Awareness Day takes place on September 7th, 2020! After many years of research, hopes for treatments become reality, specifically for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, one of Telethon’s most emblematic diseases, which was at the root of parents’ fight and of the creation of AFM-Telethon by the association’s pioneers. A gene therapy trial, stemming from research conducted in Genethon, a Telethon laboratory, should start in France and more broadly in the United Kingdom, Israel and the United States.

Enabling early detection and diagnosis of the disease is the aim of the new European Alliance for Newborn Screening in Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA NBS Alliance), launched on August 31st by SMA Europe, of which AFM-Telethon is a member.

Last December 6th and 7th, people all across France rallied in favour of the 2019 Telethon, with donations totalling 74.5 million euros by the end of the television broadcast. Today, a few months later, we are very proud to announce the final result of our 2019 fundraising campaign: 87 026 262 euros. You are great!

It is with great sorrow that we share the sad news of the death of a great researcher, a pioneer of gene therapy and a fellow traveler of the AFM-Telethon. Jon A Wolff died on April 17, 2020 of esophageal cancer, the first signs of which he had detected during a visit to France 18 months earlier.

Four types of myositis that consider all the clinical criteria of patients have been defined. A new classification that paves the way for reliable diagnosis and personalised treatments for patients.