News

MT Pharma America, maker of Radicava (edaravone), an intravenous treatment for adults with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), has changed its name to Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America (MTPA). In February 2016, MTPA’s parent company, the Japanese Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (MTPC), launched MT Pharma America to develop and commercialize…

Flex Pharma is launching the Phase 2 COMMEND trial, which will investigate the effects of FLX-787 in patients with muscle cramps associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The preliminary results of the trial are expected to be released in mid-2018. The COMMEND trial (NCT03196375) will start with an assessment…

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics has signed an agreement with the University of California Irvine Medical Center (UCI) to start enrolling patients for an upcoming Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating whether NurOwn can improve functional impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. NurOwn is made of mesenchymal stem cells…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted fast track status to FLX-787, Flex Pharma‘s treatment for severe muscle cramps in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Flex designed FLX-787 to interfere with transient receptor potential ion channels that are believed to play a role in nervous system pain and inflammation.

Scientists have known for some time that abnormal DNA repetitions in the C9orf72 gene contribute to neuron death in ALS and frontotemporal dementia. Now they have learned how it happens: The anomalies leave DNA susceptible to damage, prompting a cell repair mechanism to become over-active. That hyperactivity cause neuron deaths.