amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

FDA approves a drug for a rare form of Lou Gehrig’s disease

Associated Press

The approval came despite a drug-makers' study that failed to meet the company goal of significantly slowing ALS. The drug did make a difference on lab measures of the disease, but the FDA is requiring additional research.

ALS patients spent more than two years advocating for the approval of the new drug, Relyvrio, a treatment for ALS. Patients say they are now facing insurance and financial hurdles to access the drug, which costs $158,000.

Health News Florida

ALS patients contend with $158,000 price tag on new drug

Associated Press

Patients with insurance coverage say the cost set by drugmaker Amylyx Pharmaceutical is fueling insurance delays or denials, and sometimes exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses.

The drugmaker Amylix is asking the FDA to approve a new medication for ALS, a fatal neurodegenerative disease. It's possible the agency could greenlight the drug by the end of the month.

NPR Health

FDA seems poised to approve a new drug for ALS, but does it work?

Jon Hamilton

In March, experts who advise the FDA questioned the efficacy of an experimental new drug for ALS. In September, they voted to approve it anyway.

Health News Florida

An FDA panel narrowly sides against an experimental ALS drug

Associated Press

The vote by the agency's health advisers is a potential setback for patient groups who have lobbied for the medication’s approval for more than a year.

Patients with a fast-progressing form of ALS who got daily doses of an experimental two-drug combination called AMX0035 scored higher on a standard measure of function than patients who didn't get the drug.

NPR Health

Drug Combination Slows Progression Of ALS And Could Mark 'New Era' In Treatment

Jon Hamilton

Scientists say new drugs are on the way for patients with ALS. The latest is a two-drug combo that appears to slow the progression of the fatal nerve disease with a modest but meaningful benefit.

This light micrograph from the brain of someone who died with Alzheimer's disease shows the plaques and neurofibrillary tangles that are typical of the disease. A glitch that prevents healthy cell structures from transitioning from one phase to the next might contribute to the tangles, researchers say.

NPR Health

New Clues To ALS And Alzheimer's Disease From Physics

Jon Hamilton

Structures inside healthy brain cells nimbly move from one state to the next to perform different functions. But in certain degenerative brain diseases, scientists now think, that process gets stuck.