Lito Sousa's wife, Mila Seidl, confirmed on Monday night (14th) that he received the experimental substance ALN-6457 over the weekend while hospitalized in the ICU due to complications from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). According to her, there was no reaction to the product, which is one of the risks precisely because it has not yet been tested in humans.
The administration was an attempt at treatment against the rare disease. Lito remains in the intensive care unit and, for now, there is no forecast for discharge. Mila stated in a video on social media that the medical team should wait approximately six weeks to assess, through exams, whether the substance caused any change in his condition.
ALN-6457 is developed by the American company Regeneron in partnership with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. The strategy uses a technology called RNA interference (siRNA), which aims to reduce the production of the prion protein in the brain.
