News

MediciNova has presented positive interim data from an ongoing clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of MN-166 (ibudilast) in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study, entitled “Adaptive Design Single Center Phosphodiesterase Type 4 (PDE4) Inhibitor – Ibudilast (MN-166) Phase 1b/2a Clinical Trial [NCT02238626] for Amyotrophic Lateral…

The Augmentative Communication Program (ACP) at Boston Children’s Hospital has received a $1.5 million donation to set up a program focused on improving the quality of life of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) adult patients. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with no treatment to date. The new program will be dedicated to…

Flex Pharma, Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel proprietary treatments for spasms and nocturnal and exercise muscle cramps associated with severe neuromuscular diseases, like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and motor neuron disease (MND), recently presented data demonstrating the role of efficacy of combinations of two molecules, TRPA1 and TRPV1 agonists, in reducing muscle cramp…

MediciNova, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that acquires and develops novel, small-molecule therapeutics for diseases with unmet medical needs, recently announced that data from the ongoing clinical trial of MN-166 (ibudilast) in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) will be presented at the 6th Annual California ALS Pac10 and Research Network Meeting in January 2016. MN-166…

A new multidisciplinary clinic, the Jefferson Weinberg ALS Center, has announced it will open its doors on January 8th 2016. The new clinic will merge with the already settled Frances and Joseph Weinberg Unit for ALS Research leading to a new comprehensive clinical and research integrated center that will offer patients a…

The first transgenic mouse model for the most common type of the familial form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) has been developed by Cedars-Sinai scientists. Their research paper, titled “C9orf72 BAC Transgenic Mice Display Typical Pathologic Features of ALS/FTD,” was published in…

A recent paper from French researchers questions one of the primary ideas about what causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and proposes that over-active nervous system cells are not a primary cause of the neurodegenerative disease. The paper, titled “Is hyperexcitability really guilty in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?” appeared…

Israeli researchers may have found that a protein related to Alzheimer’s disease can also run amuck in amylotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The report, titled “Mutant SOD1 Increases APP Expression and Phosphorylation in Cellular and Animal Models of ALS” appeared November 24th in PLoS One. In…

Detailed new insights into communication between neurons and how those interactions are affected by damage to synapses (junction points among neurons), leading to neurodegenerative diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), are revealed in a new study entitled “Hsc70-4 Deforms Membranes to Promote Synaptic Protein Turnover by Endosomal Microautophagy,” published in the journal…

Researchers have discovered a potential new biomarker for amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — microRNA-206 — from studies using an experimental mouse model and the blood serum of 12 people with ALS. The report describing their research, titled “MicroRNA-206: A Potential Circulating Biomarker Candidate for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis,” appeared in the…