News

Minnesota Lawmakers Earmark $25M for Research, Caregivers

Minnesota lawmakers have passed legislation that will provide $25 million for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research and to support ALS caregivers in the state. Under the law (SF 3372), the Minnesota Office of Higher Education will receive $20 million to award research grants to scientists studying all areas of…

RNA-targeting CRISPR System Shows Promise in Preclinical Models

A CRISPR-based gene editing system could be used to reduce the activity of genes associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Huntington’s disease, a new study shows. The study, “Targeted gene silencing in the nervous system with CRISPR-Cas13,” was published in Science Advances. CRISPR is a strategy that…

InFlectis’ IFB-088 Earns Orphan Drug Status

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to InFlectis BioScience’s experimental therapy IFB-088 for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Orphan drug status is given to treatment candidates with the potential to be safe and effective in rare diseases. In the U.S. rare diseases are defined as…

Regulus, BWH Looking Into miR-155 Blockers as Potential ALS Treatment

Regulus Therapeutics, in partnership with researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, has initiated studies to evaluate a library of molecules designed to suppress microRNA-155 (miR-155) — a small molecule that regulates the activity of other genes — as a potential treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The agreement, effective…