Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure yet. Recent discoveries in ALS research are generating a rich pipeline of promising drugs that await testing in clinical trials, and new hope that effective treatments may be within reach.
The Healey & AMG Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, in partnership with the Northeast ALS Consortium, launched the HEALEY ALS Platform Trial in 2020. The study team focused on developing a patient-centric trial to 1) support and empower the ALS community; 2) accelerate drug development by testing multiple drugs simultaneously; and 3) advance scientific knowledge through testing of novel biomarkers that can provide answers more rapidly than traditional endpoints.
Now that we have established an efficient and robust platform trial for people living with ALS, we are at a turning point to capitalize upon what we have learned from the trial so far, share our data and resources with the ALS and other disease communities, and adapt the trial for even greater efficiency.
With MDA’s continued support, we propose to 1) accelerate ALS scientific knowledge and drug development through biomarker research; 2) enhance patient outreach and recruitment through collaboration with MDA Care Centers and MOVR; and 3) engage with the FDA to adapt the trial based on previous experience and share our learnings with the community. Robust collaboration with MDA will be critical to achieve such goals.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Grantee: Sabrina Paganoni MD, PhD
Grant type: Clinical Research Grant
Award total: $500,000.00
Institution: Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General)
Country: USA