Target ALS and The ALS Association recently announced a new partnership committed to the discovery of biomarkers for ALS. Structured as a precompetitive initiative between scientists in academia and the pharmaceutical/biotech industry, Target ALS and The ALS Association will fund two projects to better understand the chemical and physical structure of the TDP-43 protein, which is present in most cases of ALS.

We are getting enthusiastic feedback and questions about our partnership with Project ALS to fund a clinical research project for jacifusen, an experimental therapy being developed at Columbia University’s Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center for FUS-associated ALS. We thought it would be helpful to describe the strategy underlying the project.

Joel Shamaskin spent 30 years caring for others as a primary care physician before his ALS diagnosis rushed him into retirement. Over the course of his career he had cared for some patients who had the disease, so by the time he received confirmation of his diagnosis, he and his wife Ann, who was a primary care physician as well, felt like they already knew. But ALS hasn’t taken away his desire to care for others.

The ALS Association and Project ALS announced a joint two-year, $900,000 commitment to pilot a clinical research program for an investigational gene therapy for mutant FUS-associated ALS, at Columbia University’s Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center. This is the first step in developing a comprehensive strategy to treat multiple rare ALS genes.

The tallies are in for The ALS Association’s research program for the 2020 fiscal year, showing a total commitment of $21.5 million dollars in 70 promising research initiatives around the world.

This week, Time reported that flu patterns have been unusual this season, which means it is a good time to talk about ALS and the flu. People with ALS often experience a wide variety of challenges related to weakened swallowing and respiratory muscles, including difficulty managing saliva, coughing, and clearing secretions. Consequently, it’s imperative to take steps to avoid any respiratory infections, especially the flu.

This week The ALS Association launched a major initiative, investing $3 million ($1 million per year over three years) in the first ever ALS Platform Trial. The trial will take place at the Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Mass General in collaboration with the Barrow Neurological Institute and the Northeast ALS Consortium (NEALS).

The ALS Association, our partner ALS organizations, and the wider ALS community are all hopeful that several therapies currently in Phase 3 clinical trials will prove to be successful in slowing, halting, or reversing ALS. One of the therapies now in Phase 3 trials, NurOwn, has been the subject of considerable discussion on social media. Some of what is being stated on social media is unfortunately not accurate, and risks misleading people with ALS and their caregivers.

A global, centralized, cloud-based repository of ALS genetic data is being assembled with funding from The ALS Association. This is the first such repository of its kind. Much of the research aimed at finding a cure for ALS is in the area of genetics. Such work requires genomic sequencing, a process whereby individuals' genes are mapped in a way that can be compared to the genes of others who do not have ALS in an effort to identify variations that may be factors in the development or progression of the disease.

Last week Congress passed, and the president signed, a continuing resolution that will fund all federal programs at current levels through November 21. Before the continuing resolution expires, Congress must either pass full appropriations bills for the 2020 fiscal year or pass another continuing resolution.

Research funded by The ALS Association found that defects in the mechanism that transports proteins and RNA between the nucleus and cytoplasm of cells within the human body may lead to ALS and that regulation of those systems could present a novel therapeutic strategy for ALS.

The ALS Association is inviting researchers to submit proposals for its Managing ALS Research Program and The 2019 Lawrence and Isabel Barnett Drug Development Program. Applicants are encouraged to apply no later than October 7, 2019.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.