Long-Term Efficacy of Edaravone in a European ALS Cohort

The FDA approved edaravone in 2017 to treat patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), without restricting the indication for an efficacy-expected subpopulation. However, treatment effect beyond 24 weeks, as well as application to non-Japanese and older patients with longer duration disease, greater disease progression, and respiratory involvement, have been uncertain. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of edaravone as an add-on treatment to standard therapy, researchers enrolled 324 patients at 12 German academic centers. Edaravone was administered to 194 patients as an infusion on 10 of 14 days, alternating with 14 days drug-free. Of those patients, 130 patients received at least 4 cycles of edaravone and were propensity-matched …