A decades-old drug, long used to treat conditions including a chronic parasitic disease, may soon offer new hope for even more patients with a different life-threatening and ultra-rare disorder, Bachmann-Bupp syndrome (BABS), based on early observations.

The work is made possible through a new partnership between Corewell Health, Michigan State University and Every Cure, a nonprofit biotech organization dedicated to expanding the use of existing medicines to treat other diseases.

“Beyond helping us build preclinical studies and retrospective analyses, the team at Every Cure has already begun helping us navigate regulatory pathways and compliance on so many levels in the hopes that we can treat more of our BABS patients,” said Caleb Bupp, pediatric geneticist for Corewell Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids. “They are opening doors that we never would have been able to crack open. It’s a hopeful and exciting time for all of us and more importantly, our patients.”