• Sabrina Paganoni, Eric A Macklin, Suzanne Hendrix, James D Berry, Michael A Elliott, Samuel Maiser, Chafic Karam, James B Caress, Margaret A Owegi, Adam Quick, James Wymer, Stephen A Goutman, Daragh Heitzman, Terry Heiman-Patterson, Carlayne E Jackson, Colin Quinn, Jeffrey D Rothstein, Edward J Kasarskis, Jonathan Katz, Liberty Jenkins, Shafeeq Ladha, Timothy M Miller, Stephen N Scelsa, Tuan H Vu, Christina N Fournier, Jonathan D Glass, Kristin M Johnson, Andrea Swenson, Namita A Goyal, Gary L Pattee, Patricia L Andres, Suma Babu, Marianne Chase, Derek Dagostino, Samuel P Dickson, Noel Ellison, Meghan Hall, Kent Hendrix, Gale Kittle, Michelle McGovern, Joseph Ostrow, Lindsay Pothier, Rebecca Randall, Jeremy M Shefner, Alexander V Sherman, Eric Tustison, Prasha Vigneswaran, Jason Walker, Hong Yu, James Chan, Janet Wittes, Joshua Cohen, Justin Klee, Kent Leslie, Rudolph E Tanzi, Walter Gilbert, Patrick D Yeramian, David Schoenfeld, and Merit E Cudkowicz.
• From the Sean M. Healey and AMG Center for ALS and the Neurological Clinical Research Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School (S.P., J.D.B., S.B., M.C., D.D., M.M., J.O., L.P., A.V.S., E.T., P.V., J. Walker, H.Y., R.E.T., M.E.C.), the Biostatistics Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School (E.A.M., J. Chan, D.S.), and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School (S.P.), Boston, the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, Worcester (M.A.O.), and Amylyx Pharmaceuticals (J. Cohen, J. Klee, K.L., P.D.Y.) and Harvard University (W.G.), Cambridge - all in Massachusetts; Pentara, Millcreek, UT (S.H., S.P.D., N.E., K.H.); Swedish Neuroscience Institute, Seattle (M.A.E.); Hennepin Healthcare, Minneapolis (S.M.); the Department of Neurology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland (C.K.); the Department of Neurology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC (J.B.C.); the Department of Neurology, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus (A.Q.); the Department of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville (J. Wymer); the Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (S.A.G.); Texas Neurology, Dallas (D.H.); the Department of Neurology, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University (T.H.-P.), and the Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine (C.Q.) - both in Philadelphia; Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Disease, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio (C.E.J.); the Brain Science Institute and Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (J.D.R.); the Department of Neurology, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington (E.J.K.); California Pacific Medical Center and Forbes Norris MDA-ALS Research and Treatment Center, San Francisco (J. Katz, L.J.); Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ (S.L., M.H., G.K., R.R., J.M.S.); the Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis (T.M.M.); the Department of Neurology, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York (S.N.S.); the Department of Neurology, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa (T.H.V.); the Departments of Neurology and Pathology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta (C.N.F., J.D.G.); Ochsner Health System, New Orleans (K.M.J.); the Department of Neurology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City (A.S.); the Department of Neurology, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine (N.A.G.); Neurology Associates, Lincoln, NB (G.L.P.); independent consultant, Nobleboro, ME (P.L.A.); and Statistics Collaborative, Washington, DC (J. Wittes).
• N. Engl. J. Med. 2020 Sep 3; 383 (10): 919-930.

BackgroundSodium phenylbutyrate and taurursodiol have been found to reduce neuronal death in experimental models. The efficacy and safety of a combination of the two compounds in persons with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are not known.MethodsIn this multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial, we enrolled participants with definite ALS who had had an onset of symptoms within the previous 18 months. Participants were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive sodium phenylbutyrate-taurursodiol (3 g of sodium phenylbutyrate and 1 g of taurursodiol, administered once a day for 3 weeks and then twice a day) or placebo. The primary outcome was the rate of decline in the total score on the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R; range, 0 to 48, with higher scores indicating better function) through 24 weeks. Secondary outcomes were the rates of decline in isometric muscle strength, plasma phosphorylated axonal neurofilament H subunit levels, and the slow vital capacity; the time to death, tracheostomy, or permanent ventilation; and the time to death, tracheostomy, permanent ventilation, or hospitalization.ResultsA total of 177 persons with ALS were screened for eligibility, and 137 were randomly assigned to receive sodium phenylbutyrate-taurursodiol (89 participants) or placebo (48 participants). In a modified intention-to-treat analysis, the mean rate of change in the ALSFRS-R score was -1.24 points per month with the active drug and -1.66 points per month with placebo (difference, 0.42 points per month; 95% confidence interval, 0.03 to 0.81; P = 0.03). Secondary outcomes did not differ significantly between the two groups. Adverse events with the active drug were mainly gastrointestinal.ConclusionsSodium phenylbutyrate-taurursodiol resulted in slower functional decline than placebo as measured by the ALSFRS-R score over a period of 24 weeks. Secondary outcomes were not significantly different between the two groups. Longer and larger trials are necessary to evaluate the efficacy and safety of sodium phenylbutyrate-taurursodiol in persons with ALS. (Funded by Amylyx Pharmaceuticals and others; CENTAUR ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03127514.).Copyright © 2020 Massachusetts Medical Society.

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