The 37^e Telethon edition started on Friday evening According to the AFM (French Association against Myopathies), the event ended on Saturday night with a final prize pool of more than 80 million euros.

At the end of the session, in the middle of the night, the counter showed exactly 80,671,222 euros. A sum that “Shows the trust and extraordinary mobilization of donors and volunteers for this edition, rich in victories against the disease and in promise for all those waiting for the diagnosis and treatment that will change their lives.”welcomed the association that has co-organized the event since its first edition in 1987.

In 2022, the telethon raised 90.8 million euros, the best result since then 2016 (80.3 million euros), after two years affected by the Covid pandemic.

Beyond the research challenges, the telethon remains a unique event: this year it mobilized more than 200,000 volunteers and was available in more than 10,000 communities, with a series of unusual challenges: a farandole of several hundred people in Tonnerre (Yonne) or a marathon with Swimming laps in twelve hours in La Guerche-de-Bretagne (Ille-et-Vilaine).

As every year, events were organized in several cities in France, the event mobilized France Télévisions for thirty hours of live broadcast and the 2023 edition was sponsored by the singer Vianney.

The ‘official dance’ of the Olympics revealed

The 2023 edition included several references to the 2024 Summer Olympics, which will be held in Paris. With this, for example “official dance” of the 2024 Olympic Games, designed and unveiled by choreographer Mourad Merzouki for the first time on television during the telethon.

In addition to field collections, the program included donations by phone, online, a gaming marathon and a raffle. In 2022, the AFM provided around 58 million euros for the research and development of new therapies.

This research is particularly aimed at rare diseases, 95% of which remain untreated or even diagnosed. “The first wins are here and have really accelerated since 2018-2019.”said Laurence Tiennot-Herment, president of the AFM, on Friday.

Early detection, even before the first symptoms appear, remains crucial. Since January, two regions, Grand-Est and Nouvelle-Aquitaine, have been experimenting with genetic screening for spinal muscular atrophy at birth. Four babies so diagnosed have been treated and a fifth is being treated “probably at 19 days”greets the President of the AFM-Téléthon.

At the same time, 38 human therapy trials supported by the association are underway or in preparation for 29 different diseases.