News

Athletes who played professional football — known as soccer in the U.S. — are more than three times more likely to die of a neurodegenerative disease than are the general population, a study from Scotland has found. Its researchers compared causes of death over 18 years for about 7,700 former professional…

A first patient has been dosed in a Phase 2 trial testing a nanomedicine called CNM-Au8 as a potentially disease-modifying therapy for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This safety and efficacy study, due to finish in April 2021, is also completely enrolled, Clene Nanomedicine, the treatment’s developer, announced…

A single spinal injection of an investigational RNA therapy blocked motor neuron degeneration and saved motor function in animal models of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) linked to SOD1 mutations, a study  reports. Giving the treatment — a virus-delivered gene-silencer targeting the SOD1 gene —  before the onset of…

A recently discovered inflammatory mechanism triggered by Schwann cells —  specialized cells that produce the protective myelin sheath around neurons —  in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can be alleviated with masitinib, a study in rat models shows. The study, “Schwann cells orchestrate peripheral nerve…

To help accelerate development of effective treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the ALS Association is investing $3 million in the disease’s first platform trial. The award is $1 million annually for three years to support the platform investigation, a type of clinical study that evaluates the…

A recently completed Phase 1 trial studying NPT520-34 — an investigational small molecule being developed by Neuropore Therapies for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — has shown the candidate to be safe and well-tolerated in a group of healthy volunteers. The…

Dosing of healthy volunteers has been completed in a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating Neos Therapeutics‘ experimental therapy NT0502 for chronic sialorrhea (excessive drooling), a common problem in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The open-label study includes 30 healthy adults who were assigned randomly to take one of…

In the coming months, Alexion Pharmaceuticals will launch a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial to test its complement system inhibitor Ultomiris (ravulizumab) in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) whose motor symptoms began in the prior three years. The CHAMPION-ALS trial — which follows an investigational new…

Including ALS Research Ambassadors — a group of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients and their caregivers — in discussions about future clinical trial planning and design facilitates changes in study protocol that make the studies more patient-centered. That result is shown in the case of the REFINE-ALS trial, which is…

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients receiving the lowest dose of Kadimastem’s cell therapy candidate, AstroRx, experienced a significant reduction in disease progression in the three or four months after treatment, updated findings from the company’s Phase 1/2 clinical trial show. In subsequent…