Promising Results from Clinical Drug Trial Covered by The Wall Street Journal

shoshanna — Fri, 20 Dec 2019 15:28:39 +0000

U-M’s ALS Center of Excellence is a Research Site for the Amylyx Pharmaceuticals Drug

Preliminary data showing an Amylyx Pharmaceuticals drug as a promising new therapy in slowing the progression of ALS was published in The Wall Street Journal Today:

“The drug’s maker, closely held Amylyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., is releasing only the barest outlines of the mid-stage trial for now, as researchers continue to analyze the results. The drug slowed the rate of ALS’s progression in patients as measured by a widely used scale, said the researchers and the company’s founders.

‘We’re just another step closer to hopefully stopping this illness,” said Merit Cudkowicz, who heads the Healey Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and helped design and coordinate the study.’” See The Wall Street Journal article HERE.

The ALS Center of Excellence at Michigan Medicine is currently one of the research sites gathering clinical data.

While the trial is ongoing, it is no longer enrolling new participants.

#IceALS RECAP: Remembering Scott Matzka & a Big Ten Showdown Bringing Together Old Friends

shoshanna — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 18:32:15 +0000

Friday, December 6 marked the 4^th annual U-M Men’s Hockey ALS Awareness Game – #IceALS. It was also the first anniversary of the passing of Scott Matzka, who inspired the event. Matzka was a member of the 1998 national championship team and it was his former head coach, Hall of Famer Red Berenson, who began the yearly #IceALS campaign after finding out about the diagnosis of his player. Matzka and his family have since inspired many each year in support of this game.

Drs. Zachary Simmons, Eva Feldman & James Albers at #IceALS 2019

This year the game offered a Big Ten showdown versus Penn State, which also brought together the two schools’ ALS Center Directors, who are longtime friends and colleagues. In fact, Penn State Health’s Zachary Simmons, M.D., served as Michigan Medicine’s Eva Feldman’s, M.D., Ph.D., fellow at U-M in the early 90’s.

FEATURE STORY I DISCUSSION ON ALS: In the week before the game, Drs. Feldman and Simmons sat down to reminisce about their time together in the 90s, and where ALS research is headed today.

MORE PHOTOS HERE

To celebrate the legacy and life of Scott Matzka, his two children, Owen and Reese, dropped the ceremonial puck, flanked by Dr. Feldman and Stephen Goutman, M.D. Fox Sports 1, which nationally televised the game, captured this moving sight and spoke about the importance of the game on this clip:

“[Coach] Mel Pearson said: ‘Some moments are bigger than hockey, they’re bigger than Michigan hockey or bigger than the game. That was one of them.’”—speaking about comments from current U-M Head Coach Mel Pearson, who initially recruited Matzka to U-M, after Matzka visited the locker room following U-M’s win last year, five weeks before his death.

Just as Coach Pearson aptly noted, this game was about so much more than hockey. During the first intermission, the voice of Michigan Hockey Al Randall sat down with Dr. Feldman:

During second intermission, Dr. Feldman was also interviewed on the big screen about the importance of #IceALS and the progress of ALS research:

The Monday after the game, Dr. Goutman, visited Sam Webb and Ira Weintraub on WTKA AM 1050 to recap this special event, including the experience of escorting Matzka’s kids for the puck drop, which included sharing a very special moment with Owen Matzka:

“His son looked up at me and pointed out the 1998 championship title and just said: ‘that’s my dad’s team!’ He was just smiling and having a great time.” That’s really what it is all about.