Hoffman ALS Clinical Trial Awards Program

Hoffman ALS Clinical Trial Awards

Funds clinical trial development for ALS interventions in early development phases.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The Hoffman ALS Clinical Trial Awards Program is an annual initiative of The ALS Association, the largest philanthropic funder of ALS research in the world, which has committed over $162 million to nearly 600 projects since 2014. The program de-risks early-stage clinical development by providing up to $1,000,000 in total funding over two or three years to support phase 1 or phase 2a biomarker-driven clinical trials of novel or repurposed therapeutics for ALS, including disease-modifying treatments, symptomatic interventions, and imaging-tracer studies. The Association has particular interest in programs targeting TDP-43 and protein aggregation pathways.

Eligible trial types include single and multiple ascending dose studies, brain-penetration and target-engagement studies in healthy subjects or people living with ALS, and studies of antibodies, stem cell approaches, peptides, small molecules, antisense oligonucleotides, and other genetic therapies. Non-pharmacological, surgical, and observational study designs are excluded. The maximum budget is $1,000,000 covering all direct and indirect costs, with indirect costs capped at 10% of total direct costs. Payment for two-year projects follows a $500K/$500K schedule; three-year projects follow $500K/$250K/$250K. Co-funding to cover full trial costs is typically expected. Postdoctoral fellows are not eligible as principal investigators, and the applicant organization must control the intellectual property under development.

For the 2026 cycle the Letter of Intent was due 28 October 2025 and the full proposal (by invitation only) was due 27 January 2026; award decisions are anticipated April 2026, with an earliest start date of July 1, 2026. Applications must be submitted through ProposalCentral under grant maker 'The ALS Association.' Strong applications include a clear biological rationale, robust preclinical data, an integrated biomarkers program, and defined go/no-go milestones. The program is open to both U.S. and non-U.S. academic and industry organizations, and multi-organizational collaborations are supported.