Denali’s medicine and a similar one from Calico Life Sciences and AbbVie were not much different than a placebo, bringing the tally of failed drugs in the innovative “Healey platform trial” to seven.

The result is another major disappointment to ALS patients, who have limited drug treatment options at present, particularly after one FDA-approved therapy – Amylyx's Relyvrio/Albrioza (sodium phenylbutyrate/taurursodiol) – was pulled from the market.