May is ALS Awareness Month, so it is timely that on May 5, the FDA approved the first new treatment in 22 years for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The drug, Radicava (edaravone) has been found to slow down the decline of physical ability in ALS patients by a third.
BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics has begun training the cell manufacturing team at City of Hope’s Center for Biomedicine and Genetics to produce NurOwn adult stem cells for a Phase 3 clinical trial in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Los Angeles-based City of Hope will be the clinical…
AB Science will suspend its ongoing masitinib studies in France in patients with cutaneous mastocytosis. However, its studies in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can continue. The pharmaceutical company said it received notice from the French medicines agency Agence Nationale de la Sécurité des Médicaments,…
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons, or nerve cells controlling muscle movements. Symptoms of ALS can occur at any age but usually begin around ages 55 to 75 and progress gradually. Muscles in arms and…
A gene therapy aimed at strengthening the connection between motor neurons and muscle prevented nerve degeneration and increased the life span of mice with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a study showed. Since researchers believe that neurodegeneration in ALS starts at the junction between nerves and muscle, the findings suggest that…
More than 260 Dutch Bros. Coffee locations in seven American states have raised $970,037 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association‘s patient-services and research programs, which include ALS, the disease that claimed Dutch Bros. co-founder Dane Boersma. To honor Boersma, the company calls its annual fund-raiser Drink One for Dane Day. In addition…
In this video from Eugene Speech-Language Therapy LLC, Eugene explains some of the ways that a speech-language therapist can help those who suffer from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). MORE: Researchers use Hollywood technology to track ALS speech changes. She shares that speech therapy can help…
This video from Nature Video discusses the neurons behind amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The narrator explains that ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that usually begins in adulthood and progresses rapidly. MORE: Sixteen fast facts about ALS. The disease is characterized by the loss of both upper and lower motor neurons,…
Researchers have developed an antibody, called armanezumab, which specifically targets defective tau protein. The molecule has potential for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), among other diseases. According to results of the study “Humanized monoclonal antibody armanezumab specific to N-terminus of pathological tau: characterization and therapeutic potency,”…
The first treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in more than two decades, Radicava (edaravone), has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and will soon be available to patients. The May 5 FDA decision, hailed by physicians and ALS advocates, brings hope to the ALS community that treatment development, after a…
