A drug discovered through a method using induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, from sufferers of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was effective in stopping the progression of the neurological disease in five out of nine patients in a clinical trial, a research team at Kyoto University said Thursday.
While drugs that slow down the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, have been used in the past, this is the first time that a chronic myeloid leukemia drug called bosutinib has been found to stop its progression, according to the team.
Haruhisa Inoue, a professor of neurology at Kyoto University leading the team, said that larger clinical trials will be needed to determine if the drug can be put to practical use, but "We are now looking at the possibility of being able to control ALS with the power of science."