Marta Figueiredo, PhD, managing science editor —

Marta holds a biology degree, a master’s in evolutionary and developmental biology, and a PhD in biomedical sciences from the University of Lisbon, Portugal. She was awarded a research scholarship and a PhD scholarship, and her research focused on the role of several signaling pathways in thymus and parathyroid glands embryonic development. She also previously worked as an assistant professor of an annual one-week embryology course at the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Medicine.

Articles by Marta Figueiredo

WVE-004 Trial in Patients With C9orf72 Mutations Gains Funding

Wave Life Sciences has gained additional financial support for an ongoing “basket” Phase 1b/2a clinical trial evaluating its experimental therapy, WVE-004, in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and/or frontotemporal dementia (FTD) caused by mutations in the C9orf72 gene. So-called basket trials, commonly used in the field of cancer, test…

Grant Supports Screening Platform for Potential Vaccine

Amarna Therapeutics and Redoxis have received an €800,000 (about $900,000) grant from Eureka Eurostars to advance their joint project, ALPHAVAC, which aims to discover immune-related therapeutic targets of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases. Promising targets, initially focused on ALS, then will be used to…

AcuraStem’s AS-202 for ALS Shows Promise in Preclinical Studies

AcuraStem’s experimental therapy AS-202 significantly reduced neurodegeneration and improved motor function and survival in a mouse model of aggressive amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) associated with toxic clumps of the TDP-43 protein, the company announced. Preclinical studies also confirmed the therapy’s biological activity and target engagement and suggested that…

Pridopidine Arm of HEALEY ALS Platform Trial Fully Enrolled

Prilenia Therapeutics announced the completion of patient enrollment in the pridopidine arm of the HEALEY ALS platform trial, the first study to simultaneously test multiple experimental therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Prilenia’s oral therapy pridopidine was selected as the trial’s fourth regimen (NCT04615923), with…

NurOwn Benefits Patients With Less Severe ALS, Analyses Show

A significantly greater proportion of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients with less severe disease showed slower ALS progression with the investigational cell-based therapy NurOwn relative to a placebo. These are the findings of another post-hoc analysis of data from NurOwn’s Phase 3 clinical trial (NCT03280056), further supporting the…

Enrollment Continuing in REFINE-ALS Biomarker Study for Radicava

Thanks to the implementation of proactive safety measures for the COVID-19 pandemic, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America (MTPA) has enrolled at least 33 adults with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in its ongoing REFINE-ALS biomarker study. “ALS patient needs remain MTPA’s primary focus, so it was a priority to address the…