According to a story from Newswire, the specialty pharmaceutical company Tikomed recently announced that the first patient has been dosed in an clinical trial testing the company’s experimental product ILB. This drug is in development as a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Tikomed is dedicated to the development of treatments for degenerative, acute neurological diseases.
About Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a rare, degenerative disease that causes the death of nerve cells associated with the voluntary muscles. Little is known about the origins of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, with no definitive cause in about 95 percent of cases. The remaining five percent appear to inherit the disease from their parents. Symptoms initially include loss of coordination, muscle weakness and atrophy, muscle stiffness and cramping, and trouble speaking, breathing, or swallowing. These symptoms worsen steadily over time; most patients die because of respiratory complications. Treatment is mostly symptomatic, and the medication riluzole can prolong life. Some patients pass away in the first few years after diagnosis, while others live substantially longer. To learn more about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, click here.
About The Trial
This clinical trial will involve a total of 15 patients. The patients that are treated with ILB will receive the product candidate for a period of four weeks. This clinical trial will also include a period of three months after treatment for follow up.
ILB is an innovative, first-in-class therapy that is meant to address the underlying causal mechanism of the characteristic neurodegeneration that appears in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. There is a serious need for disease modifying treatments for this disease, as there are few options that can slow its progression; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is always fatal.
Other Research
This is not the only clinical trial in which ILB is taking part. Tikomed is also running a Phase II trial as part of a collaboration with Birmingham University in the UK. This is another small scale trial of fifteen patients, who will receive treatment with ILB for a period of ten weeks.
