Drug to treat Lou Gehrig's disease completes phase II trial
People living with debilitating diseases can buy cheap medications from an online Canadian pharmacy, many of which sell the same drugs available in the U.S., but at significant discounts.
People living with debilitating diseases can buy cheap medications from an online Canadian pharmacy, many of which sell the same drugs available in the U.S., but at significant discounts. In the future, these businesses may sell the treatments that are only in their development stages today. This may include dexpramipexole, a drug that recently completed a phase II trial for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Dexpramipexole works by sustaining the proper function of mitochondria, which produce the energy in cells. The breakdown of mitochondria is believed to be one of the driving factors that kills nerve cells in ALS and cause paralysis, according to researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, who conducted the new drug trial.
The study team initially enrolled 102 ALS patients into their trial and divided them into four treatment groups: one division received placebos, while the other three were given 50, 150 or 300 milligrams (mg) of dexpramipexole for 12 weeks. Patients who were still able to participate after this phase of the trial were re-randomized into new groups receiving 50 or 300 mg of the drug for 24 weeks.
Results showed that dexpramipexole may slow down the progression of the disease. This effect seemed to be strongest at the highest dose of the drug; symptoms appeared to slow down by 30 percent among those on 300 mg compared to people on placebos, as published in Nature Medicine.
These results will need to be verified in phase III trials.
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