If you are interested in participating in the ongoing study, please contact us at clinical@ab-science.com

About Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare and life-threatening neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive muscular paralysis reflecting degeneration of motor neurons. ALS is associated with substantial morbidity and severely impacts day-to-day functioning. The disease is relentlessly progressive.

There is still a high need for new treatments in ALS. In Europe, there has been no drug registered since riluzole 32 years ago.

Masitinib positioning in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Masitinib is currently the only tyrosine kinase inhibitor in late-stage development for ALS. Masitinib distinguishes itself from other ALS developmental drugs by exerting neuroprotection in both central and peripheral nervous systems.

Masitinib appears exceptional among other ALS-developmental drugs, exerting neuroprotection in both central nervous system and peripheral nervous system via selective kinase inhibition that modulates the functionality of different cells implicated in ALS pathogenesis.

In recognition of the critical need for new treatments, masitinib received orphan drug designation for ALS from both the European Medicine Agency (EMA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Number of patients targeted by masitinib in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

The number of patients targeted by masitinib amounts to 50,000 in Europe and in the US.

Positive Phase 2B/3 results of masitinib in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

AB Science reported positive Phase 2B/3 results with masitinib in ALS. In this study, masitinib in combination with riluzole demonstrated a significant delay (-27%) in disease progression in ALS patients identified as normal progressors, which was the population for primary analysis (i.e. patients with a baseline ALSFRS-R progression of <1.1 point/month).

Primary analysis – Change in ALSFRS score from baseline

Primary analysis – Change in ALSFRS score from baseline

The results of the study have been published in the journal Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration (ALSFD) and represent the first positive phase 3 trial of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor in ALS.

A survival analysis followed all patients originally randomized in study AB10015 for an average duration of 75 months from the date of diagnosis. In ALS patients with mild or moderate disease severity at baseline, it was seen that treatment with 4.5 mg/kg/day masitinib as an add-on to standard riluzole prolonged survival by 25 months relative to those treated with riluzole alone, with a 44% reduced risk of death. Patients with mild or moderate disease severity correspond closely to the patient cohort enrolled in confirmatory phase 3 study, AB19001. This new survival data has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders.

Confirmatory Phase 3 study with masitinib in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Following this first phase 3 study, AB Science has launched a confirmatory phase 3 study, with an optimized design that includes enrolment of patients at an earlier stage of their disease. This study targets people with ALS that have mild or moderate (non severe) impairment of functionality at baseline. This is closely aligned with the patient population that showed the greatest survival benefit with masitinib in the long-term survival analysis. The primary endpoint the study is absolute change from baseline in functional score as assessed by ALSFRS-R after 48 weeks of treatment. Recruitment is ongoing.