News

People dying of terminal diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and inmates on death row have something in common: their outlooks are more positive than might be expected. A recent study examining attitudes on impending death, “Dying is Unexpectedly Positive,” appeared in the journal Psychological Science. Death is an important part…

Flex Pharma, which develops therapies to reduce the cramps and shaking that are hallmarks of ALS and other neurological diseases, has a new CEO. Dr. William McVicar, head of the company’s research and development arm, will assume the interim chief executive’s post on July 3. He replaces Dr. Christoph Westphal, who…

American Airlines has raised more than $800,000 at its second annual American Airlines Charity Golf Tournament to support the research initiative Answer ALS. The tournament and a fund-raising auction took place in American’s home base of Dallas, May 24 and 25. “We are proud to partner with Answer ALS…

Insilico Medicine has launched ALS.AI, a drug discovery platform for new amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) treatments. It uses a powerful new analytical approach involving “deep learning” to seek out new therapies for the disease — and to evaluate whether existing drugs used to treat other diseases can be repurposed for treating ALS.

ProMIS Neurosciences hopes to develop an ALS therapy around a component of a protein that is faulty in the disease. The TDP43 protein’s abnormality leads to it becoming misfolded — that is, it not having a normal structure — in both amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). ProMIS thinks it can eliminate…

Researchers have identified the sequence of molecular events leading to motor neuron death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an important step forward that may lead to new therapies to halt this process. They found that unlike healthy astrocytes, which are…

Radicava, also known by its generic name edaravone, is the first treatment approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in more than two decades to help amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. While awaiting its arrival, ALS News Today spoke to the company responsible for its U.S. launch,…

Mindfulness-based programs may help improve anxiety and depression in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to results of a study published recently in the European Journal of Neurology. The study is titled “Meditation training for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a randomized clinical trial.” The journal also published…

An artificial-intelligence-proposed ALS therapy prevented the death of movement-control neurons in a lab and delayed the onset of the disease in an animal model, according to British scientists. The University of Sheffield team said the AI company BenevolentAI suggested the therapy, which has yet to have a name. The drug candidate promotes…

An imbalance between production and degradation of protein in the central nervous system may contribute to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), researchers at England’s University of Sheffield suggest. Their study, “Protein Homeostasis in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Therapeutic Opportunities?,” appeared in the journal Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience. It reviewed available data showing that disturbances in…