ALS platform trial to put neuroinflammation hypothesis to the test

The largest test of the idea that ALS is driven by neuroinflammation will come from the first collaborative platform trial in the disease, which could blow open the range of pathways and targets in play for a disease that has remained stubbornly intractable.

The Healey ALS trial was launched on Sept. 18 by Massachusetts General Hospital and will test five different agents. The trial is exceptional not only for how quickly companies signed on, but for the bolus of data it could provide within the next 18 months. The trial is set to treat the first patients in early 2020 and the primary endpoint in the trial is assessed at six months, putting the first possible data read out near YE20 or early 2021 (see “Lessons from Healey ALS”)...