heart full of joy and tears in my eyes

Sometime in the next few days, I'll share with you the craziness that occurred last week.

But, for now... I'd like you all to read something that filled my heart with joy and my eyes with tears in the midst of this little episode of chaos on Wednesday. Most of you know that my sweet cousin, Blair, has Cystic Fibrosis. There are treatments... but no cure. It is a huge prayer of mine (and everyone who knows B) for God to lead researchers and doctors to a cure... and oh, what exciting news this is...

Dear Friend, I am writing today with great news.  This morning, we announced very exciting results from the clinical study of a new treatment for cystic fibrosis. The oral drug, known as VX-770, targets the defective protein that causes CF. A Phase 3 trial evaluated patients who carry at least one copy of a CF mutation called G551D. Patients who took the drug showed marked improvements in a number of key measures of the disease, including improved lung function, fewer pulmonary exacerbations, patient-reported reductions in respiratory symptoms and weight gain. In addition, average sweat chloride levels of patients on VX-770 dropped toward normal -- indicating the drug is impacting the underlying defect in CF. VX-770 is being developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and was discovered in collaboration with the CF Foundation. Vertex plans to submit a New Drug Application to the Food and Drug Administration with the hope of approval sometime in 2012. To learn more about this important development, visit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's website to read our news story and the announcements issued by the Foundation and Vertex and FAQs. Our story was reported in The New York Times this morning. Read the article here. This achievement would not be possible without your support.  Thank you for all you are doing to help bring us closer to a cure. Sincerely, Robert J. Beall, Ph.D. President and CEO Cystic Fibrosis Foundation 800-FIGHT-CF info@cff.org www.cff.org ---------------------------  To learn more about the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, visit www.cff.org. Connect to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on:   Facebook           Twitter Sign up to receive information by e-mail. Remember to add info@cff.org to your address book or safe sender list to ensure that you will continue to receive our updates! Click here to unsubscribe http://llists.cff.org/u?id=7653785.41d94da63ef0e15a9fee54c946da9ccd&n=T&l=cffinfo&o=100290  If the link does not work, please send an e-mail to on-unsubscribe@llists.cff.org from the address you would like removed. Read our privacy policy. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 6931 Arlington Road, Bethesda, MD 20814