7 May 2026 News
A global challenge prize, which aims to transform drug discovery for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), has awarded £2 million to twenty international teams.
The Longitude Prize on ALS, which launched last year and is principally funded by the MND Association, received almost 100 entries from teams across the world.
Today, 20 of the most promising teams of innovators have been awarded £100,000 in funding to identify and validate new drug targets using AI.
The winning teams include over 70 organisations from 12 countries, including King’s College London, Paris Brain Institute, GlaxoSmithKline, MIT, Harvard Medical School, and the University of Sydney.
The 20 teams also have access to the largest and most comprehensive ALS patient dataset of its kind.
ALS is the most common form of motor neurone disease (MND).
Next year, ten of the teams will progress to a second stage, receiving a further £200,000 to build the evidence base for their targets.
Tris Dyson, Managing Director at Challenge Works and diagnosed with MND in 2023, said: “Ten months on from launch, we are celebrating 20 highly collaborative and creative consortiums who have teamed up with a shared goal in mind - to find a treatment for ALS.
“Beating ALS requires the boldest and brightest innovators – and that’s what we have found.”
Tanya Curry, Chief Executive of the MND Association, said: "Our vision is a world free from MND, and this can be achieved through funding leading researchers to chase down new treatments.
“These 20 teams of innovators and their work can provide more understanding of this condition and potentially, one day, a cure.
“MND is a devastating disease, but every step forward in research brings hope. We are delighted to support the work that lies ahead in our role as principal funder.”
The Prize is principally funded by the MND Association and designed and delivered by Challenge Works, supported by Nesta.
Additional global funders include the Alan Davidson Foundation, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, Answer ALS, The Packard Centre at Johns Hopkins, The 10,000 Brains Project, and Fight MND.
For more information and to view the full list of winning teams, visit als.longitudeprize.org
Listen to our podcast on the Longitude Prize on ALS, released in June 2025, below.