Margarida Maia, PhD, science writer —

Eli Lilly will develop therapies against two drug targets for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that were identified and validated by Verge Genomics as part of a three-year collaboration between the companies. The targets, which weren’t disclosed, were discovered with Converge, Verge’s platform that draws on human…

A newly awarded grant from the ALS Association will support Asha Therapeutics‘ work to advance ASHA-624, a small molecule being developed for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), into a first-in-human clinical trial that’s expected to begin early next year. The grant was through the Lawrence and Isabel Barnett…

Mutations in the mitochondrial genome — the set of DNA instructions found inside mitochondria, the powerhouses of cells — may be linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a study found. The findings open the door for new ways of diagnosing and treating the disease, researchers said. “We aren’t saying…

An advisory committee from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has upheld its opinion against granting conditional marketing authorization to AB Science’s masitinib as an oral add-on treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the European Union. The decision was taken in a meeting by the Committee for Medicinal…

The first patient has been dosed in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of AMT-162, the one-time gene therapy in development by uniQure for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) caused by mutations in the SOD1 gene, when the condition is thus known as SOD1-ALS. The open-label EPISOD1 clinical…

NeuroSense Therapeutics has initiated the process of applying to Canada’s regulators for early marketing approval of PrimeC in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), based on positive findings in a Phase 2b clinical trial. The application will be filed under Health Canada’s Notice of Compliance with Conditions policy, which could…

A growth factor called FGF4 can reduce the activity of astrocytes — star-shaped cells in the brain and spinal cord that become overly reactive in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — but it doesn’t stop motor neurons from dying, a study in cells and mice found. The researchers also observed…

ProJenX has teamed up with Unlearn, a company that specializes in artificial intelligence (AI), to create virtual twins of patients as a way of more quickly collecting data in a Phase 1 clinical trial of prosetin, its oral treatment candidate for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) has awarded a $500,000 research grant to a Massachusetts General Hospital scientist to support the HEALEY ALS platform trial — a pioneering trial that’s seeking to find treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in a faster timeframe. The three-year clinical research grant was…

Certain rare genetic variants associated with Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders may increase, by up to nearly four times, the risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a study found. These variations also may lead to faster ALS progression and shorter survival, so patients who carry the…