ALS is a deadly disease affecting the motor nerves and the voluntary muscles.

VOA: special.2010.03.09

They had raised millions of dollars in a failed effort to find a cure for ALS and also ended up creating a data-sharing patient social network to go with it.

FORBES: PatientsLikeMe Is Building A Self-Learning Healthcare System

The new trial would join a small number of other therapies in human trials for ALS, including a nerve-protectant called TCH-346 in second-stage trials at the Swiss drug firm Novartis (nyse: NVS - news - people ).

FORBES: Gene Therapy Slows A Killer

ALS, a disease of the nervous system, impairs muscle movement and eventually results in total paralysis.

CNN: Gene linked to some cases of Lou Gehrig's disease found