The 2020 Telethon counter reached 58.29 million euros in pledges during a 34th edition marked by the cancellation due to confinement of the events that symbolize this charity marathon, organizers said on Sunday.
Read also: The Covid-19 deprives the Telethon of its thousands of volunteer activities
The final counter shows 58,290,120 euros, down sharply from the total of 74.6 million euros raised during the duration of the Telethon in 2019 and 87 million in total (the counter remains open a little while after the event).
"
In this health context which has led to the cancellation of a very large number of events in towns and villages, the French have attended this exceptional Telethon: that of the greatest victories in its history
" , welcomed the organizers in a statement.
80% of entertainment prohibited
The event to collect donations for research on rare diseases, launched Friday evening, was reduced this year to its retransmission on the channels of France Televisions and to challenges on the internet.
Some 80% of the usual animations have been canceled because of the restrictions imposed by the fight against the Covid.
Read also: EU telethon for a vaccine: one conference among others, according to Washington
“
Usually, there are 12,000 municipalities participating in the Telethon, ie one in three, 250,000 volunteers and 5 million French people.
The vast majority of these events are prevented today
”, had underlined earlier this week the president of the organization AFM-Telethon, Laurence Tiennot-Herment, in an interview with AFP.
However, “
the land is 40% of the collection
”, and in particular “
the addition of very small donations
”, she argued.
“
The Telethon is also a social link, and the Covid is synonymous with social distancing: obviously it's contradictory,
” she regretted.
Donations by internet or phone will continue until December 11, the organizers say.
Généthon is 30 years old
Despite this particular context, the Telethon celebrated an important anniversary this year: the 30th anniversary of Généthon, the cutting-edge laboratory that this charitable marathon made it possible to finance.
Inaugurated on December 8, 1990, this laboratory has allowed several advances in gene therapy, which consists of introducing genetic material into cells to treat a disease.
He published the first maps of the human genome in the 90s. And last year, the first drug resulting from research conducted at Genethon obtained marketing authorization in the United States, before Japan and Europe. this year.
This treatment, Zolgensma (Novartis laboratory), can treat spinal muscular atrophy, a neuromuscular disease that condemned babies to early death.
Of the eleven drug-genes approved worldwide today, "
four are the direct result of our research or our funding
" and five are indirectly linked, according to the AFM-Telethon.
Read also: The telethon for New York raises $ 115 million
Success that perhaps calls for others.
Genethon has just obtained the green light from the French Medicines Agency (ANSM) to start a gene therapy trial in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease emblematic of Telethon.
The international trial, which is scheduled to begin in February, will look at young boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in the UK, US, Israel and France.