The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a drug for treating patients with a rare form of neurological disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
ALS affects motor neurons—nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movements like walking, chewing, breathing, and talking. An individual suffering from ALS loses the ability to activate specific muscles, which eventually causes the muscles to become weak and suffer from paralysis.
The drug “Qalsody,” also called tofersen, has been approved by the FDA for patients with ALS associated with “a mutation in the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) gene (SOD1-ALS),” according to an April 25 FDA announcement….