This year, the charity event was able to reinvest in the public space, through thousands of events. This 35th edition raised 73,622,019 euros in pledges, much more than in 2020.
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The 2021 Telethon counter reached nearly 74 million pledges, the organizers announced on Sunday, December 5, during a 35th edition which returned to the field after the previous one. The final counter displays very precisely 73,622,019 euros, a marked increase compared to the total of 58.3 million euros raised during the duration of the Telethon in 2020. A total of 77 million was recorded last year on the counter, the latter remaining open for some time after the event.
Last year because of the Covid-19, this unparalleled popular event was reduced to its retransmission on France Televisions channels and to challenges on the internet. The fundraising event for research on rare diseases, launched Friday evening, was able this year to reinvest in towns and villages in France. Despite the inclement weather in many departments, events were held in nearly 10,000 municipalities. Sponsored this year by rapper Soprano, the 35th edition of the Telethon highlighted the volunteers, researchers and families mobilized for this charity marathon.
Today, 17 gene therapy drugs have been approved, 5 of which have been directly supported by AFM-Telethon, and 11 others have benefited from gene therapy developed for severe genetic immunodeficiencies. This research was carried out in particular by the Généthon, the cutting-edge laboratory of the Telethon which celebrated its 30th anniversary last year.“All the victories you’ve seen over the weekend, it’s not a miracle, it’s no magic “, commented the president of the AFM-Telethon organization, Laurence Tiennot-Herment. “It is the fruit of 35 years of combat, of a vision and a strategy of our association of patients and parents. “
Other trials could lead to new therapies. A treatment is being developed to cure myotubular myopathy, a rare genetic disorder of skeletal muscles. A clinical trial could start in 2022 for girdle myopathies, which manifest as progressive muscle degeneration. Another is underway to treat a rare liver disease. Thanks to research supported by AFM-Telethon, a first French cell therapy trial was also launched at the end of 2019 for rare diseases of the vision, after the development of a cell patch developed from embryonic stem cells. human.