This time last year, politicians, celebrities, business companies, different organizations, and other concerned people participated in the #IceBucketChallenge that benefitted the on-going search for treatment for ALS disease.
Raising a total of $220 million in donations, the ALS Association listed different institutes and research programs to fund as they develop a detailed clinical treatment through medical trials, laboratory tests and extensive research, Huffington Post reports.
Out of the money raised, $4 million went to ALS Therapy Development Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for their research programs that according to them, will "make an impact to end ALS."
The Institute added that $1 million went to a research that will discover the first prescription medicine, which will also identify the subtypes of ALS and each of their effective therapies. The rest of the funding received will support a couple of clinical trials.
San Francisco biotech company Cytokinetics was given $1.5 million for the final stages of testing a developed experimental drug, tirasemtive. This medicine reportedly could restore lung functions for people suffering the disease.
According to CNN, three laboratories in California received $5 million for their Neuro Collaborative group, which aims to develop stem cell lines similar to the nerve cells of ALS patients.
"It's a bit like having an avatar of yourself in the petri dish," Neuro Collaborative's Clive Svendsen told CNN.
Until now, experts have not yet discovered an effective cure and known cause for this "progressive neurodegenerative disease," which is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
According to the ALS Association website, the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis "affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord." As motor neurons continue to degenerate, "people may lose the ability to speak, eat, move and breathe."
The #IceBucketChallenge co-founder, Pete Frates' wife, Julie Frates told CBS Boston that the ALS Association plans to continue re-launching the award-winning campaign "every August until a cure."
