The Fight to Beat ALS: Alon Ben-Noon on PrimeC, Persistence, and Israeli Biotech

In this episode of Tel Aviv Diary, Marc speaks with Alon Ben-Noon, founder and CEO of NeuroSense Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NRSN), about Israel’s bid to change the prognosis for ALS. Ben-Noon traces his path from early years in Nahariya, studies in industrial engineering and an MBA, and work at Perrigo and Teva, to launching his own consultancy and eventually founding NeuroSense. He recounts how meeting ALS patient and activist Shai Rishoni pushed him from advising biotech companies to building one, and how that encounter led to the development of PrimeC, a combination drug designed to target key ALS mechanisms such as neuroinflammation, iron dysregulation, and microRNA imbalance.Ben-Noon explains what PrimeC has shown so far in trials—slowing functional decline by roughly 30–40% and improving survival by about 60% in a phase 2b study—and outlines the company’s next step: an international phase 3 trial in the U.S., Europe, and Israel, now cleared by the FDA. The conversation ranges from the scientific debate over whether ALS is one disease or many, to the realities of running a small public biotech company from Herzliya, raising capital, partnering with big pharma, and keeping focus through war and national trauma after October 7. Ben-Noon shares his cautious optimism about the timeline ahead, his hopes for eventually “beating ALS,” and why he believes Israeli ingenuity and persistence can help turn a devastating diagnosis into a treatable condition. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marcschulman.substack.com/subscribe