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Verge Genomics Joins 4 Top Universities to Advance ALS Research

The company Verge Genomics, which uses genomic data for neuroscience therapeutics, announced that it will join specialized departments at four top universities to boost research in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The innovative industry-academic collaboration will combine machine learning with genomic, genetic, biological, and phenotypical data to accelerate the translation…

Disarm Therapeutics Receives Key Funding for ALS Therapy Development

Research into the development of new therapies to treat several traumatic, inflammatory, and neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) received an important financial boost with the announcement by Disarm Therapeutics that it will receive $30 million in financing to develop treatments for axonal degeneration. Disarm was founded in 2016 as a…

FDA Grants Orphan Drug Status to RNS60 for ALS Treatment

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Orphan Drug Designation to Revalesio’s investigational drug RNS60 to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The status gives incentives for companies to develop new therapies targeting rare and serious diseases, providing marketing exclusivity for…

FDA Grants Orphan Drug Status to Amylyx’s AMX0035 for Treatment of ALS

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted orphan drug designation to AMX0035 for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, the drug developer, announced in a press release. Orphan drug status aims to encourage therapies for rare and serious diseases through incentives such as seven years of market…

Cell Cleaning Mechanism Has Dual Role in ALS, Study Finds

A mechanism that cells normally use to keep them healthy was found to have a dual role in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). While the process, called autophagy, delays disease progression in early stages, it contributes to ALS’s deadly spread through the spinal cord in later stages. This study, “…

In New Book, ALS Researcher Niels Birbaumer Explores Brain’s Limitless Capacity to Remodel Itself

Neuroscientist and professor Niels Birbaumer, a senior research fellow at Switzerland’s Wyss Center in Geneva, has written a new book investigating the brain’s seemingly limitless capacity  to reshape itself and overcome disease. Birbaumer has conducted research with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients who, because of their progressive motor neuron disease, have…

National Institutes of Health Awards $30 Million to Support Development of 3-D Models of Disease

The National Institutes of Health has awarded $30 million over two years to 13 researchers who are developing three-dimensional models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other diseases. Researchers say the initiative is aimed at tackling a translational science problem: More than 60 percent of therapies prove ineffective in clinical trials of…

Human Skin Cells Successfully Converted into Motor Neurons

Scientists have discovered how adult skin cells can be converted into motor neurons without transitioning them through a stem cell state. The findings promise to help researchers better understand motor neuron diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study, “MicroRNAs Induce a Permissive Chromatin Environment that…