Since 1950, MDA has been waging the war against ALS and has committed more than $270 million to ALS (aka Lou Gehrig?s Disease) research and services.  MDA-funded research led to the development of Rilutek, the only known FDA-approved drug for ALS. An estimated 15 people are diagnosed with ALS each day while about 30,000 Americans are currently living with ALS. The cause is generally unknown - although genetic factors may play a role, only 10 percent of cases are clearly inherited, showing a family history (aka Familial ALS). MDA is the world leader in ALS research and services and surpasses the combined efforts of all other nongovernmental health agencies dedicated to ALS. As of the first half of 2010, MDA?s ALS research portfolio includes 64 active grants, the total sum of which equals $40 million. MDA?s mission is to find treatments and cures. This means not only funding excellent basic research, but also capitalizing on this pipeline with programs targeted to each phase of research required to move promising projects out of the labs and
into the clinic