The Netherlands and Belgium join forces to accelerate research into new ALS treatments with PLUS ALS

For the first time, multiple biomarkers will be studied simultaneously and longitudinally in the same people with ALS and in people without ALS for comparison. This is intended to help develop a better understanding of how biomarkers relate to disease progression and which are more informative. Improved biomarkers could provide earlier insight into how potential treatments are working and if they are likely to be effective. Ultimately this could accelerate the development of new treatments.

In recent years, knowledge about ALS has grown considerably. Researchers have developed an increasingly clearer understanding of the underlying causes and disease processes involved. New laboratory techniques are enabling us to measure these processes with ever greater precision. This is done using what are known as biomarkers, which allow indirect observation of disease activity. For example, a biomarker could consist of measuring a protein in the blood or an imaging techniques such as MRI scans. Biomarkers can also provide insight into how the disease progresses and how potential treatments are working.

PLUS ALS is a collaboration between ALS Centre Netherlands (UMC Utrecht), UZ/KU Leuven, the Dutch ALS Foundation, ALS Liga Belgium, and the Dutch ALS patient association, and is funded by Romo Foundation.

Professor Philip Van Damme, Leuven ALS Centre and lead investigator of PLUS ALS:

With PLUS ALS, we are taking an important step towards faster and more targeted drug research for ALS. By tracking multiple biomarkers over time in the same patients, we hope to better predict which treatments will have a genuine effect.

The initiative builds on the longstanding collaboration between the ALS Centres in Leuven and Utrecht, and the international research network TRICALS. Both centres bring complementary expertise: UZ/KU Leuven in the field of molecular biomarkers and PET scans, and the ALS Centre Netherlands with experience in MRI, EMG, EEG, and clinical trials.

This collaboration creates a strong international platform for biomarker research in ALS, with the aim of accelerating the development of more effective treatments for people with ALS.

Professor Dr. Leonard H. van den Berg, ALS Centre Netherlands, UMC Utrecht and lead investigator of PLUS ALS:

The strength of PLUS ALS lies in the unique collaboration. By pooling our expertise, we can take biomarker research to a higher level.