What the trial was testing
The DEVOTE enrolled 145 patients with spinal muscular atrophy. The study was sponsored by Biogen and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.
It was a large trial designed to confirm whether the treatment works well enough for wider use. Trials at this stage are designed to produce evidence regulators and physicians can act on — not just observations to follow up later.
What the results showed
Babies on high-dose nusinersen improved by 15 points on motor function tests while untreated babies declined by 11 points.
Nature medicine · 2026 · NCT04089566
These findings — that high-dose nusinersen led to major improvements while untreated babies worsened — were published in the Nature medicine and represent the headline result of the study.
Researchers tracked outcomes across 145 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.
What this means for patients
For patients with spinal muscular atrophy, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.
What you can do now
Nusinersen is already FDA-approved for spinal muscular atrophy at the standard dose. This study shows a higher dose may work even better. If you or your child is on nusinersen, talk to your doctor about whether this higher dose might be an option, though it may not yet be widely available.
Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.
Open spinal muscular atrophy trials
ALS/MND Natural History Study Data Repository
This is a data repository for multi-site multi-protocol clinic-based Natural History Study of ALS and Other Motor Neuron Disorders (MND). All people living with ALS or other MNDs who attend clinics at the Study hospitals (sites) are offered to participate in the Study. The Sites collect so-called Baseline information including demographics, disease history and diagnosis, family history, etc. At each visit, the Sites also collect multiple disease-specific outcome measures and events. The information is captured in NeuroBANK, a patient-centric clinical research platform. The Sites have an option to choose to collect data into 20+ additional forms capturing biomarkers and outcome measures. Captured data after its curation are anonymized (all personal identifiers and dates are being removed), and the anonymized dataset is shared with medical researchers via a non-exclusive revocable license. Funding Source - Biogen, Inc.; Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America; FDA OOPD.
Observational Study to Observe Variations of Gait Parameters in Patients With Neuromuscular Diseases
This study has the general objective of observing walking parameters during a clinical test to objectively estimate fatigue in patients with neuromuscular diseases. Furthermore, the investigators want to evaluate the feasibility of collecting physical activity in daily life conditions during a one-week monitoring period using a wearable sensor.