Christian Jorgensen, the director of the IHU in Montpellier, launched an appeal to Céline Dion to France Bleu Hérault. He believes that with adequate funding, his teams could find a treatment for the disease she suffers from, stiff person syndrome.
A sum which does not represent “much” for a global star, but which could change the lives of several people. With France Bleu Hérault, the director of the Immun4cure university hospital institute, supported by the Montpellier University Hospital, Inserm and the University of Montpellier, launched an appeal to Céline Dion this Wednesday, June 26.
Christian Jorgensen wants to find a treatment for stiff person syndrome (RPS), an autoimmune disease with no known cure that causes severe pain, difficulty moving and spasms. Céline Dion herself suffers from it, as she mentions in her documentary I am: Celine Dionreleased June 25.
“If someone today arrives with 10 million euros and says make me a biomedicine, I will do it,” assured Christian Jorgensen to France Bleu.
A rare disease and “a market that interests no one”
The professor says he was in contact with the singer’s teams, but that “no action was taken.” “These are not necessarily people to whom we can propose a scientific development plan, so I don’t think that Céline Dion herself had a concrete proposal but perhaps with the press, it can happen as far as ‘to her,’ he hopes.
Stiff person syndrome is a very rare disease, which affects 50 people “at most” in France, according to Christian Jorgensen. In fact, a potential treatment for this pathology is “a market that interests no one”. This is why the director of the IHU turns to Céline Dion.
“I think that for her, 10 million euros is not much, and it’s not a joke at all, if someone comes with 10 million euros to develop a biomedicine, in two years it will be ready,” he says, without being able to guarantee it 100%.
An illness that hampers Céline Dion’s career
In her documentary available on Prime Video since Tuesday, Céline Dion retraces her career and talks about the health problems she has faced for years. In December 2022, the singer with more than 250 million albums sold announced for the first time the illness which forced her to put her career on hold.
“I really want to be on stage tomorrow. If I do too much, I can have a seizure. The body stiffens, the voice, everything. Everything stops working. It could be for a few minutes or hours “, she confided during an interview with TF1 on June 16.
The international star had to cancel a series of shows planned for 2023 and 2024, saying she was not strong enough to tour. She made a surprise appearance earlier this year at the Grammy Awards, presenting the album of the year award to Taylor Swift.
