
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 24, 1990                   TAG: 9003242516
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

`BUBBLE BOY DISEASE' DRUG WINS FDA'S OK

The Food and Drug Administration Friday approved a new drug for so-called "Bubble Boy disease" that will enable many children suffering from the rare genetic disorder to escape their sterile, plastic environments and live relatively normal lives.

Researchers said that the drug may be the forerunner of others useful for treatment of other incurable genetic disorders.

The drug, PEG-ADA, manufactured by Enzon Inc. of South Plainfield, N.J., replaces an enzyme called adenosine deaminase that is absent from children with the disease. The deficiency results in a partial or total dysfunction of the immune system, leaving the children unable to fight common infections. - Los Angeles Times

by CNB