Teen Puts Pen to Paper to Lift Spirits of People With ALS

High school student Cole Spector is giving people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) a reason to smile by becoming their pen pal. In January, Spector, who turns 17 at the end of this month, started sending cards to ALS residents in San Diego after coming up with the idea…

An at-home music therapy program aimed at improving speech, swallowing, and respiration in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was well-tolerated and feasible, according to a small pilot study. While the pilot study (NCT03604822) was not designed to test the program’s effectiveness, collected data suggest that the music…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation to Tranquis Therapeutics‘ experimental therapy TQS-168 for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Orphan drug status is given to experimental therapies with promise for treating rare diseases — those affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S.

“What if Todd had aspirated while you were on your spring break trip?” someone asked me. That’s the type of question I’ve asked myself many times over the last decade since my husband, Todd, was diagnosed with ALS. What risks are we willing to take to…

TikoMed reported that ILB, its investigational therapy to protect nerve cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), was well-tolerated by patients, and led to improvements in mobility and disease severity while reducing spasticity scores in a small open-label clinical trial. “These early results from this ALS-study are exciting as ILB provided beneficial…

A Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating NeuroSense Therapeutics’ experimental combination therapy PrimeC in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has enrolled its first patient. PARADIGM (NCT05357950) is the company’s next step following the completion of a Phase 2a trial (NCT04165850) wherein the therapy effectively slowed disease…

Stealth BioTherapeutics’ investigational therapy SBT-272 eased inflammation and upper motor neuron degeneration in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) associated with the accumulation of toxic TDP-43 protein clumps, the company announced. Motor neurons are nerve cells that control voluntary movement and progressively die in people with ALS.

A new study is investigating the longer-term effects — over a one-year period — of the therapy candidate reldesemtiv in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Cytokinetics has launched an open-label extension (OLE) study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of reldesemtiv over a longer course in patients…

Treatment with ultrahigh-dose methylcobalamin — the physiologically active form of vitamin B12 — effectively slowed functional decline in people with early-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and moderate progression, data from a small Phase 3 trial in Japan show. The findings confirm previous results from a Phase 2/3 trial and…

“Kristin, if you can’t choose joy for yourself, then do it so Todd’s remaining days and years won’t be miserable,” I wrote in my journal a month after my husband, Todd, was diagnosed with ALS. “Do it so your kids can see how to live well, so they…