The Fierce Pierce
Foundation
Fiercely Taking on Rare
Pediatric Orphan Disease
“Nothing is impossible,
the word itself says I’m possible!”
-Audrey Hepburn
November 2025 Update
During what we can only describe as “one wild ride,” we have been beyond blessed by the tremendous outpouring of love, well-wishes, and the generous support of family, friends, and even complete strangers as we’ve continued the journey towards curing Pierce and TECPR2.
As an update on those efforts, we are ecstatic to advise that the drug manufacturing process for the cure has officially kicked off!
The regulatory hurdles have been cleared, so the AAV9 Gene Therapy cure for TECPR2 has moved into it’s final phase - manufacturing! This is a tremendously big deal as only a handful of other gene therapies have made it this far in the process before.
For this phase of the process, we have partnered with Forge Biologics leveraging their facility in Grove City, Ohio. Ensuring that the quality and purity of the treatment is properly achieved can be a long and tedious process, but with any luck, we may be in the position to actually administer the human clinical trials in the next 12 months!
What a difference a year can make!
Additionally, as we often tell people we talk with, creating this cure is like baking cookies… you can’t bake a single cookie, rather, you need to bake a whole batch. AND, given the rarity of TECPR2 as a disease and how few cases there are, the smallest batch of medicine that can be created is actually enough to cure all the children affected. As such, all TECPR2 families are essentially aligned in finding and fundraising for this cure together.
It is in this vein of thinking that we are pleased to advise that Fierce Pierce (Rachel and Duane Hynes) have joined the TECPR2 Research Foundation (a DBA of the Eleanor Kaplan Foundation) as directors.
The combined efforts between EKF, Fierce Pierce, as well as a viral campaign in Israel has resulted in fundraising in excess of $2.5m so far in 2025. Thanks to you!!!!
While the fundraising efforts to date ensure we have the funds necessary to manufacture the cure, we still have a need to cover costs associated with the final administering of the treatment. This need isn’t as significant as the production costs, but still amounts to about $500,000. As such, we greatly appreciate any and all continued love and support.
Get to know Pierce and TECPR2 a bit more…
Video Credit: Brandon Study
(www. brandonstudy.com )
Help Fierce Pierce battle
for those suffering
from rare
pediatric disease!
Ways to Donate
Donate to Pierce’s GoFundMe! 100% of funds raised will go to production of the TECPR2 cure!!
WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING
All donations are tax-deductible and go to the Eleanor Kaplan Foundation, a non-profit 501c3 (Tax ID: 86-1876534). 100% of the funds raised will go directly to the production of the cure!
Donate directly to Leni’s Foundation, which leads efforts for TECPR2!
Checks can be made out to: The Eleanor Kaplan Foundation and mailed to: P.O. Box 480291 Delray Beach, FL 33448
The Eleanor Kaplan Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit (Tax ID 86-1876534)
All Donations are 100% tax deductible.