There is a new tool available to fight a rare form of ALS after the FDA on Tuesday granted accelerated approval for a new injectable drug from the Cambridge-based company Biogen.
The company’s drug is the first drug approved to treat the inherited form of ALS, a deadly and debilitating disease that destroys nerve cells needed for walking, talking and even breathing.
ALS treatment and research has advanced significantly with the help of money raised by the Ice Bucket Challenge, which was inspired by former Boston College baseball captain Pete Frates.
Frates passed away in 2019 after a seven-year battle with ALS.
7NEWS spoke to Frates’ mother, Nancy Frates, on Tuesday.
Nancy Frates was on the patient advisory board for the drug, tofersen, and said this treatment is one step closer to finding a cure.
“What we’re doing is we’re building,” she said. “We know this is not going to be be one pill to cure this disease. But what we’re building is slowing the disease progression.”
“Slowing the disease progression is congruent to extending life,” Frates continued.
Biogen will sell toferson under the brand name Qalsody, as reported by the Associated Press.
The Boston College baseball team will play Norte Dame in their 11th annual ALS Awareness Game at Fenway Park on May 19. The game will raise money for the Peter Frates Family Foundation.
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