154: NEALS 2025: Takeaways That Matter for ALS Care

Welcome to the NeurologyLive® Mind Moments® podcast. Tune in to hear leaders in neurology sound off on topics that impact your clinical practice.In this episode, "NEALS 2025: Takeaways That Matter for ALS Care," ALS experts Jinsy Andrews, MD, MSc, and James Berry, MD, MPH, reflect on key themes from the 2025 NEALS Annual Meeting, now reintroduced as the Network of Excellence for ALS. They discuss format changes that elevated lightning science, the expanding gene therapy pipeline, and a growing slate of NEALS-affiliated trials. The conversation highlights updates from the HEALEY Platform Trial, the MY-MATCH biomarker-guided precision trial, SOD1 program data, and new antisense and viral vector therapies aimed at sporadic ALS. They also explore the impact of Act for ALS on trial access, the ALL ALS biospecimen repository, and NIH-supported expanded access cohorts. The discussion closes with insights on combination therapy strategies, genetic subtypes, presymptomatic enrollment, and how new collaborations, digital endpoints, and infrastructure advances are shaping momentum heading into 2026.Looking for more Neuromuscular discussion? Check out the NeurologyLive® Neuromuscular clinical focus page.Episode Breakdown: 1:05 – Reflections on meeting highlights and NEALS rebranding into a global network 5:00 – Notable NEALS-affiliated trials and promising new mechanisms in ALS care 12:45 – Combination therapy strategies and future approaches in ALS research 15:20 – Neurology News Minute 18:00 – Expanding clinical trial access for rare and genetic ALS subtypes 22:10 – Building momentum and expectations for the 2026 NEALS Annual Meeting The stories featured in this week's Neurology News Minute, which will give you quick updates on the following developments in neurology, are further detailed here: FDA Approves Doxecitine and Doxribtimine Combination Therapy as First Treatment for Thymidine Kinase 2 Deficiency Supplemental New Drug Application Submitted for AXS-05 as Treatment for Alzheimer Disease Agitation BTK Inhibitor Fenebrutinib Meets Primary End Points in Phase 3 Trials for Both Relapsing and Primary Progressive MS  Thanks for listening to the NeurologyLive® Mind Moments® podcast. To support the show, be sure to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. For more neurology news and expert-driven content, visit neurologylive.com.