Los Angeles, May 22, 2019 – Augie’s Quest to Cure ALS awards $1 million to the ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI), the world’s only nonprofit biotech focused solely on ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease), to find effective treatments and ultimate cure for the devastating disease.
Specifically, Augie’s Quest’s $1 million gift will further ALS TDI’s innovative approach focused on pre-clinical, translational ALS research that has already led to a robust pipeline of potential ALS treatments. It will also enhance ALS TDI’s Precision Medicine Program (PMP), a comprehensive patient data collection approach vital to accelerating ALS research, and at the same, offers people with ALS real-time, tangible information to guide their personal ALS journey. No other research entity actively engages people with ALS in this way, and it’s empowering them to make more informed decisions about their care.
“ALS TDI is at the forefront of cutting-edge research, fueling our urgent fight to end ALS. Augie’s Quest and our thousands of supporters are confident that this $1 million gift will continue to drive scientific breakthroughs at ALS TDI,” says Augie Nieto, Chairman and Co-Founder of Augie’s Quest to Cure ALS. “ALS TDI is working tireless, like no other, to bring the next promising ALS treatments successfully through to clinical trials, as quickly as possible. More than any other time, we now have the best shot at success.”
Augie Nieto—who has lived with ALS for 14 years—is the business leader and fitness industry icon who developed a disruptive, laser-focused, ALS-specific nonprofit model that is now making significant progress in changing the experience of thousands facing the disease today. The key point: ALS isn’t incurable, it is under-funded. Collectively, Augie’s Quest and ALS TDI have raised more than $150 million for this shared cause.
“We understand the need for a comprehensive approach to ALS treatment; and, most likely, ALS TDI has the deepest bench of ALS preclinical drug discoveries all under one roof, which allows us to quickly apply findings across multiple projects and accelerate our research,” says Fernando Vieira, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer, ALS Therapy Development Institute. “We have Augie’s Quest support, funding and leadership to thank for our ability to advance potential treatments faster than ever before.”
ALS is an incredibly complex neurodegenerative disease, because each person’s ALS is totally unique. It will take several distinct treatment options to support the diversity of the ALS community, and give people battling ALS the chance to fight this disease.
“We hope by partnering with new ALS patients, we can make huge leaps in the research process,” adds Vieira. “None of this work would be possible without Augie’s Quest, its committed donors, and the entire ALS community. One day I know we’ll go from saying ‘Lou Gehrig’s disease’ to ‘Augie’s Cure.’”
About Augie’s Quest to Cure ALS
Augie’s Quest to Cure ALS is a nonprofit committed to changing the experience of people living with ALS by fast-tracking cutting-edge research to advance effective treatments and an ultimate cure. The organization is galvanizing thousands to join this fight, confronting ALS in an entirely new way, and driving innovative research forward, and at an accelerated pace. We are working to bring an exciting treatment, AT-1501, and many others, to market as fast as we can via our research partners at the ALS Therapy Development Institute. Augie’s Quest was founded more than a decade ago by Augie Nieto, the successful fitness industry mogul behind Lifecycle and Life Fitness who was diagnosed with ALS in 2005 and whose life story was recently chronicled in the award-winning film, Augie. With Augie’s Quest, ALS doesn’t stand a fighting chance. Because ALS isn’t incurable, it’s only underfunded. Please join our quest at www.augiesquest.org.
