SMA is known as a neuromuscular disease because it originates in the central nervous system (CNS) and
affects the motor neurons that power the muscles in the body.
People with SMA can’t make enough SMN protein, the protein
their motor neurons need to function, because they have a
mutated or deleted survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. The
gene they do have, SMN2, does not produce enough protein for
all of the body’s muscles. That’s where SPINRAZA can help.
Watch Emma, a 7-year-old with SMA, explain how SPINRAZA works.