News

Regenerative medicine investigators at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to test a novel combination stem cell-gene therapy they’ve developed to stall amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) progression. Enrollment in the trial is expected to commence soon. Also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS is…

A mutation, causing an inherited type of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), kills motor neurons by giving the protein it produces toxic properties. This protein, which normally binds to RNA, disrupts all RNA processing in the neurons to effectively take away their ability to survive. The study, “Protein-RNA Networks…

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients with cognitive difficulties show brain damage in areas important to thinking, a finding that may explain why such patients deteriorate more rapidly. The study, “Structural explanation of poor prognosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the non-demented state,” published in the European Journal of Neurology, also supports…

Researchers in a recent amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) study found that patients had problems reading negative emotions in other people because of changed activity in brain regions associated with emotional recognition. Conversely, patients with more frequent social contacts were able to neurologically compensate. The study, “Perception of emotional facial expressions in amyotrophic…

Cytokinetics has enrolled the first patient in the VIGOR-ALS extension trial (NCT02936635), which will assess the effects of tirasemtiv in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who participated in the Phase 3 VITALITY-ALS (NCT02496767) study. Tirasemtiv is a novel skeletal muscle activator that triggers the muscle troponin complex, increasing…

The Les Turner ALS Foundation had about 7,000 people on more than 200 teams support those affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at the Les Turner ALS Walk for Life, held Sept. 18 in Chicago. The Les Turner ALS Foundation was founded in 1977 to support research, patient care, and education about…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated  MediciNova’s Ibudilast (MN-166) an orphan drug as a potential treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Ibudilast is a first-in-class, orally bioavailable small molecule phosphodiesterase (PDE)-4 and -10 inhibitor and a macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) inhibitor that suppresses pro-inflammatory cytokines and promotes neurotrophic factors.

An analysis of previously published data suggests that neurofilaments in the blood and spinal fluid of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may be used to assess disease progression and neurodegeneration in general. Levels of the factor also were higher in ALS patients than in patients with diseases mimicking ALS,…

Augie’s Quest announced the 11th annual ‘Tradition of Hope’ gala event will be held Oct. 15 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel to raise funds for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research. Augie’s Quest is a cure-driven nonprofit effort dedicated to finding treatments and a cure for ALS. The effort…

AB Science has been invited to present new preclinical studies on masitinib in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at four international meetings this year. These were the main findings from the series of preclinical studies: Proof of concept data from the preclinical trials of masitinib showed that the investigational drug “targets…