The ALS Association is deeply committed to accelerating the development of novel ALS therapies and ensuring they are accessible to those who need them. The Association is announcing today its latest strategic action with the release of Principles for Urgent, Patient-Centered ALS Clinical Trials: a series of recommendations to clinical trial sponsors and regulatory bodies worldwide.
Diagnosing ALS is a lengthy and frustrating process for clinicians and families alike. This is due in large part to the absence of a specific biological indicator, which would signal the presence of the disease in people experiencing the onset of ALS symptoms. Unlike cancer and diabetes, which can be diagnosed and monitored through laboratory tests, ALS has no unique biological markers to confirm an ALS diagnosis.
With Congress home for the August recess, The ALS Association is redoubling its efforts to build upon momentum toward achieving a long-sought policy goal – the elimination of a five-month waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance.
Five years ago, I joined millions of people around the world and took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The Challenge took America by storm and fueled the biggest social media movement in history. At least 17 million people uploaded videos to Facebook to raise awareness and donate to ALS research, and over $115 million was raised for The ALS Association.
To help provide more information about our research program, our spending decisions, our approach to certain experimental therapies, and other matters, we have put together the below Frequently Asked Questions.
AB Science has completed a Phase 2/3 human clinical trial of masitinib in ALS with promising results. The company published the results of its trial, conducted in Spain, in the journal Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration. A confirmatory Phase 3 study will be launched later in 2019 with all locations yet to be announced.
The ALS Association, ALS Finding a Cure (ALSFAC), and MDA announced they have jointly awarded a clinical trial grant totaling more than $2.5 million over two-and-a-half years to leading investigators at the Houston Methodist Neurological Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital. The principal investigator is Stanley Appel, MD, co-director of Houston Methodist Neurological Institute, chair of the Stanley H. Appel Department of Neurology and the Peggy and Gary Edwards Distinguished Chair in ALS at Houston Methodist Hospital, and professor of Neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College.
One of the most significant results of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is the synergy it created in the ALS research community. The increase in funds the Challenge made available to research not only created more fundamental knowledge about ALS, it also spurred many global collaborations that further our capacity to identify targets and advance therapies.
Orphazyme has fully enrolled its Phase 3 clinical study of arimoclomol in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The Danish biopharma company hit full enrollment ahead of schedule due in large part to the efforts of the global ALS community who put out the word to people living with ALS.
Collaboration is critical to scientific research, which is why the Ice Bucket Challenge was so transformational to ALS research, particularly in the field of genomics.