The Martha Olson-Fernandez Foundation will donate $30,000 from their upcoming 9th Annual Golf Tournament (02-Oct) to the Expanded Access Protocol (EAP) Program at the Healey Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital. Here’s why:
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease that affects roughly 9 out of a 100,000 people in the United States at any given time1. Put in more relatable terms, the average person has a 1 out of 300 chance to develop ALS in their lifetime 2.
There are currently only 3 FDA approved therapies indicated in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). These drugs, RADICAVA®, NEUDEXTA®, and Rilutek fall short of providing significant, disease modifying effects for those living with the disease. Those individuals that seek a more significant therapeutic benefit and a better chance at survival enroll in clinical trials. There are currently 86 global clinical trials that are currently recruiting patients3. The caveat is that nearly 60% of ALS patients fail to qualify for clinical trial enrollment due to the rigid inclusion/exclusion criteria written into each trial protocol.4 Expanded access, also called “compassionate use,” provides a pathway for patients to gain access to investigational drugs, biologics, and medical devices used to diagnose, monitor, or treat patients with serious diseases or conditions for which there are no comparable or satisfactory therapy options available outside of clinical trials.5
2020 statistics provided by the Golden West Chapter of the ALS Association revealed that there were just over 90 patients living with ALS on the Central Coast. These patients, right in our backyard, are dying. Their only chance is experimental therapies. The MGH Expanded Access Protocol (EAP) provides just that. Since the second quarter of 2018, The MGH EAP has supervised 133 ALS patients receiving access to therapies not yet approved by the FDA. These patients have seen therapeutic benefits and their stories of function recovery are inspiring.
Some of the drugs the EAP at MGH allows access to are currently being tested in the Healey Platform Trial: Verdiperstat, CNMAu8, and Pridopidine. All of these drugs are administered under the supervision of an interdisciplinary team of doctors and longitudinal data is collected for research purposes to assist with therapy validation and categorization.
This fundraising effort is a partnership between the Ken Brenner Family and the Martha Olson-Fernandez Foundation. To date, they have raised $6,900.00 and they need your help to reach their $30,000 goal. Since it costs $10,000 to provide 1 patient access to therapy for 1 year, this total will fund 3 patients.
NEVER GIVE UP
Donate to the MGH EAP Program today.
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6567553/
- https://www.neurologylive.com/view/an-overview-of-causes-and-risk-factors-for-als
- https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?cond=ALS&Search=Apply&recrs=a&age_v=&gndr=&type=Intr&rslt=
- https://alsnewstoday.com/news-posts/2019/01/21/new-eligibility-criteria-needed-to-improve-als-trial-outcome/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5443564/