The ALS Association has awarded $4.9 million to help speed the testing of ALS therapies through clinical trials. The Association’s inaugural Trial Capacity Awards will support efforts at 13 established and emerging ALS clinical trial sites to increase the number and diversity of people living with the disease who have the opportunity to participate and improve the efficiency and pace at which these studies are conducted. 

ALS Association leaders and advocates from the ALS community will press lawmakers in Maryland to pass legislation that would prevent insurance companies from using genetic testing information to deny coverage or influence price considerations.

The ALS Association is launching an ambitious slate of federal and state policy priorities for 2023. The priorities build upon the successes achieved and focus on augmenting our work to accelerate the search for new treatments and cures, optimize care for people living with ALS today, prevent ALS, and empower everyone with ALS and their families to live life on their own terms.  

The ALS Association has awarded nearly $800,000 to support 16 innovative research projects that have the potential to significantly impact the experience of ALS by optimizing current care and treatments, finding new treatments and cures, and aiding with diagnosis and prevention.

Maryland lawmakers are considering a bill spearheaded by The ALS Association that would prohibit life insurance, long-term care insurance, and disability insurance policies from discriminating against people based on the results of a genetic test.

The ALS Association recently filed comments with the National Institute of Health (NIH) to provide the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council and their Council Working Group with constructive feedback on the development of the NINDS 2022 Draft ALS Strategic Plan. 

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs has made RELYVRIO available for the treatment of ALS for veterans who are living with the disease who receive care at VA clinics or ALS specialists, becoming one of the first health care payers or insurers to provide access to the drug.

The ALS Association recently sent letters to 43 of the largest insurance companies and health care payers to make RELYVRIO, which was formerly developed as AMX0035 and approved by the FDA for use in the treatment of ALS in September, available and accessible for people living with ALS.

As the nation prepares to observe Veterans Day, the ALS Association and Paralyzed Veterans of America call on Congress to pass the Justice for ALS Veterans Act (H.R.5607/S.3483), which allows survivors of veterans who died from service-connected ALS to receive a small boost to the rate of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), which is commonly known as the “DIC kicker.”

The ALS Association is leading a fight to increase support for The Justice for ALS Veterans Act. The bill would make sure spouses of veterans who lose their battle with ALS are not denied access to survival benefits they are owed.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration awarded $3.7 million to three ALS research projects as part of the implementation of the Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Act (ACT for ALS). 

Biogen Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration extended the review period of the promising gene therapy treatment Tofersen to consider additional data. The initial review period, which was announced in July 2022, was scheduled to conclude in January 2023. The review will now be extended to April 25, 2023.  

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) is undertaking a study into accelerating the development of treatments and improving quality of life for people with ALS. This is a huge win for the community. The ALS Association led an effort to get Congress to direct NAS to undertake a study on ALS and also fought for $1 million to fund the study.  

We filed comments urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights to finalize a proposed rule that would strengthen civil rights protections against discrimination on the basis of disability in federal health care programs.

ORLANDO -- On Saturday, October 8th, more than 100 families living with ALS will have the opportunity to connect with one another for a day of impactful learning and discussions on topics related to the disease. The Symposium will take place at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel and Conference Center in Orlando starting at 8 a.m

The ALS Association, the country’s largest nonprofit committed to making ALS livable and finding a cure, today celebrated the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of AMX0035, a new treatment for people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disease. The Association invested $2.2 million of funds raised through the 2014 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge into the development and trial of AMX0035, and led the years-long advocacy campaign that pushed the FDA to approve the treatment prior to completion of an ongoing phase 3 trial.

Earlier this week, The ALS Association filed comments with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), urging the agency to provide Medicare coverage for seat elevation systems in power wheelchairs since these systems are a medical necessity for people living with ALS.

We strongly disagree with ICER’s final report on new ALS drugs, which may result in people living with ALS being unable to access life-extending treatments. ICER’s flawed conclusions were based on their discriminatory methodology, as the National Council on Disability has documented.  

An FDA advisory committee voted overwhelmingly (7-2) to support approval of AMX0035 for the treatment of ALS. A phase 3 clinical trial will continue to test the effectiveness of AMX0035.

Today, we filed comments with the FDA imploring them to ask the right question when it reconvenes its advisory committee in September to consider a new drug application (NDA) for AMX0035.