News

In keeping with its commitment to turn amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) into a “livable disease” by 2030, and to ramp up discovery and funding of new therapy candidates, the ALS Association is moving to a unified structure from a federated one. “Our best opportunity to fulfill this promise and…

Nominations are now open for the worldwide 2022 Black Pearl Awards from Eurordis-Rare Diseases Europe. The 12 award categories recognize individual advocates, policy makers, researchers, organizations, and companies who work to make a difference for the global rare disease community. The deadline for nominations is Sept. 10…

Verge Genomics and Eli Lilly have entered into a three-year collaboration to find and develop therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Verge will focus on discovering and validating potential new therapeutic targets, while Lilly will select up to four candidates to advance through clinical testing with a goal of…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to Prilenia’s pridopidine for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The decision follows a recent positive opinion from a branch of the European Medicines Agency recommending the treatment be given orphan drug status in…

Ubiquitination — the cell’s process of tagging proteins, often to degrade unwanted ones — is essential for the disassembly of stress granules that, by not being cleared, damage cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases, a study showed. The study, “Ubiquitination is essential for…

Coya Therapeutics’ ALS001, a potential regulatory T-cell (Treg) therapy designed to halt amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) progression, has been granted an orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Furthermore, a Phase 2a trial (NCT04055623) testing ALS001 versus a placebo in 12 ALS patients…

Using motor neurons derived from people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a promising approach to screen for molecules that prevent certain disease mechanisms, and to identify new targets for therapies, according to a recent study. Two classes of therapies were identified that might lessen the excessive firing of motor…

Strenuous, intense exercise done frequently is an environmental risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in people with ALS risk genes, particularly those who carry a faulty C9ORF72 gene, a study concluded. Future research is needed to better understand and identify people at disease risk due to such exercise,…

A July 15 golfing event brings the ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) together with he Azzur Group to raise money to help support research into potential new treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The Azzur Fore ALS Golf Tournament is set to take place on Thursday, July…

Alector and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have established a partnership to develop two investigational antibodies — called AL001 and AL101 — to boost the production of the progranulin protein as a potential treatment for neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Low levels of progranulin, known as PGRN, which is a…