It's a start: $185,000 to find new drugs for ALS

In 5 seconds Begun at UdeM, a new Quebec biotech company is one of 20 international research teams selected to vie for the UK-based Longitude Prize on ALS – and could get over $1-million more.
In Canada, an estimated 2,000 to 4,000 people have ALS, with about 1,000 dying of it each year.

Espoir Biosciences, a Longueuil-based biotech company begun at Université de Montreal and its university teaching hospital's research centre, the CRCHUM, is one of 20 international research teams in 12 countries selected to vie for the Longitude Prize on ALS, it was announced May 7.

Launched in 2025 and administered by Challenge Works, a division of the British innovation foundation Nesta, the Prize is a $14-million global challenge in which researchers will use artificial intelligence to try to develop new drugs to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

For now, each team receives an initial $185,000 'Discovery Award', as well as access to the competition’s datasets and a range of technical support services, to help them carry out their computational work.

Next year, 10 teams will progress to a second stage with $370,000 in funding each, and in 2028 five teams will receive $922,000 each to validate their highest-potential targets in the laboratory.

"This is a significant recognition of the ALS research done at UdeM, and a concrete example of Montreal’s academic ecosystem, which trains and propels the talent that will build the companies of tomorrow," said neuroscience professor Alex Parker, a co-founder of Espoir Biosciences, which bills itself as a company dedicated to "Repair from within: RNA therapies for neurodegeneration."

Gilles Tossing, Alex Parker and Constantin Bretonneau

Added Gilles Tossing, who worked in Parker's lab as a postdoctoral researcher before joining forces with him to found the company in December 2025 with his colleague Constantin Bretonneau, another postdoc: “For this prize, we will be working alongside leading international research teams at major pharmaceutical companies, world-renowned universities and some of the most advanced AI laboratories to find new ways to treat ALS.”

Also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS is a rare neurodegenerative disease that affects an estimated 352,000 people worldwide, mostly men over 60 years of age, and for which there is no known cure. Its symptoms include gradual muscle stiffness, twitches, weakness and wasting leading to death, usually within two to four years after onset. 

In Canada, an estimated 2,000 to 4,000 people have ALS, with about 1,000 dying of it each year.

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