The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has agreed to review an application seeking the conditional approval of AB Science’s masitinib, now Alsitek, for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Conditional approval is granted to a medication whose immediate availability fulfills an unmet medical need, when its preliminary benefits are…
Treatment with gene therapy candidate SynCav1 delayed disease onset and extended survival in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to a new study. The experimental therapy aims to improve the survival of motor neurons in people with ALS irrespective of the underlying cause. “These data suggest that…
If you asked my late husband, Jeff, what he’d lost while living with ALS, he might have told you via text-to-speech technology that he missed his voice. His dry wit, irreverence, and affinity for gentle teasing relied, in some part, on his ability to speak. Or he might…
“Are you ever going to go faster, Mom?” my 12-year-old son, Isaac, asked earlier this summer when I caught up to him at the bottom of a hill, where he was waiting for me. I enjoy mountain biking with him. At times I ease off the brakes on a smooth…
Treatment with terazosin, a medication approved to treat high blood pressure and enlarged prostate, was found to protect motor neurons and extend survival in animal models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in a new study. “Our work shows that terazosin is protective of motor neuron cell death in multiple…
A clinical trial is evaluating whether a new, implantable brain computer interface (BCI) is able to decode brain signals — ones research has shown are related to tasks relying on the hands or speech — and transform them into actions for people with neurological disease or injury. Up to 15…
One of the many things I love about living in Arizona is its unique weather patterns. For 10 months out of the year, we have warm temperatures and clear skies, followed by two months of thunderstorms. But lately, my ALS has made me dread each downpour — until I…
Whole-genome sequencing, a type of genetic screening that examines a person’s complete DNA sequence, may be a promising way to identify disease-causing mutations in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to a study of Italian patients. Disease-associated mutations were found in more than a quarter of 1,043 Italian…
Amydis is developing a test to monitor the buildup of TDP-43 in the eye’s retina of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which could offer a noninvasive way to diagnose the neurodegenerative disease sooner and better monitor its progression. The research will be conducted with support from a…
Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics is preparing to file an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting approval of its cell-based therapy NurOwn for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The decision to submit a biologics license application was based on “the totality of the evidence from NurOwn’s clinical…
