The 38th edition brought together nearly 80 million euros in pledges, a “huge pot” similar to that of the 2023 edition. It is always possible to donate for research.
The 38th edition of the Telethon, which began on the evening of Friday November 29, concluded during the night from Saturday to Sunday with a final prize pool of nearly 80 million euros for the benefit of research into rare genetic diseases, according to the AFM-Téléthon association.
At the end of the meeting, in the middle of the night, the counter showed 79,801,520 euros, the organizers specified in the closing press release.
The 2023 edition had collected a little more than 80 million euros at the end of the weekend and almost 93 million in the end. It was in 2006 that the counter reached its record, with more than 106 million euros.
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“The French were there and brought nearly 80 million euros in pledges, which is enormous given the context, I want to say a huge thank you to all those who donated,” greeted AFP Laurence Tiennot-Herment, president of the French Association against Myopathies-Téléthon.
Behind this amount, “there are so many hopes of treatment for the families”, she underlined.
“We are really relieved, very happy, gratefulgrateful”, reacted to AFP the singer Mika, “marathon runner” sponsor of this edition, stressing that it was “not easy to change the date” of the event, brought forward due to the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris on December 8.
“It is only by doing the Telethon that we understand the immense effort it takes to achieve this remarkable figure (…) and it is not yet over,” he added.
Donors can indeed contribute until Friday at 36.37 and all year round on the telethon.fr website.
Duchenne myoptopathy
This year is special because a treatment could change the course of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease previously considered incurable. This rare pathology, which destroys muscles and affects one in 3,000 boys in France, is an emblematic cause of the Telethon: in 1958 it was at the origin of the creation of the AFM, the association which organizes this charity marathon for fund research.
The needs in 2025 to finance an “exceptional trial” on this disease “exceed 30 million euros”, according to Laurence Tiennot-Herment.
As every year, thousands of events were organized in many cities in France this weekend, the event mobilized France Télévisions for 30 hours of live broadcast.
In addition to field collections, pledges of donations by telephone, online, a gaming marathon and a raffle were on the menu. Many actions are “still scheduled for next week,” Mika recalled.
In 2023, the AFM has dedicated around 60 million euros to the research and development of new therapies.
The Telethon product particularly targets rare diseases, 95% of which remain without treatment or even diagnosis, and research still needs funding.
This collection will allow the AFM-Téléthon to continue to support “40 trials in humans which concern more than 30 different diseases”, said Laurence Tiennot-Herment.
