Medicare Advantage plans in US told to cover Qalsody for SOD1-ALS

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a directive requiring that Medicare Advantage plans cover Qalsody (tofersen) to treat people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) caused by mutations in the SOD1 gene. The directive comes after the ALS Association worked closely with…

Dazucorilant, an oral cortisol modulator being developed by Corcept Therapeutics, didn’t significantly slow disease progression in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) over a placebo, meaning it failed to meet the primary goal of the DAZALS Phase 2 clinical trial. The study (NCT05407324), which tested dazucorilant doses…

Bravyl (oral fasudil), an experimental therapy Woolsey Pharmaceuticals is developing for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), significantly reduced the spread of toxic TDP-43 protein clumps in a cell model of the disease. New data was presented at the University of Denver during the International Symposium on ALS/MND, which took…

One of the things I cherished most about my late husband, Jeff, was his love of the holidays. From the year we began dating until our last Christmas, before he died from ALS in 2020, Jeff made the holidays special. During this season, he exuded a childlike glee that…

Specialists diagnose amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) twice as fast as general neurologists, research led by the ALS Association in collaboration with leading ALS clinicians shows.  The average time for ALS or neuromuscular specialists to diagnose ALS…

It’s been a rough season lately in terms of finding care for my husband, Todd. One of his long-term nighttime caregivers gave notice last summer about moving on. Not only did she work two nights per week, but she was also flexible enough to pick up additional shifts, even on…

People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are more likely than those without the neurodegenerative disease to have grown up in rural areas, have younger parents, and have lower levels of education, a new study found. These results suggest that events and conditions in early life may be potential environmental…

Something was missing from the packet of patient information my doctor gave me on the day she told me I had ALS. But I didn’t discover that missing item until 12 months later. Why? During those months, even though I was adapting as best I could — such as…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) signaled that it may be willing to consider granting accelerated approval to CNM-Au8 to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), based on data from clinical trials and ongoing expanded access programs. The therapy’s developer, Clene, said it will put together an…

MN-166 (ibudilast), an investigational oral treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), appears to slow disease progression over up to one year of use, according to an analysis of data in an ongoing Phase 2b/3 clinical trial. The interim analysis, required under the study’s design, looked into how well…