Amid battle over ethics, Biogen stands firm on denial of experimental ALS drug

A couple dozen people rallied in front of Biogen’s headquarters on Tuesday morning, and another 99,000 people have signed a petition online in support of Lisa Stockman-Mauriello, a 51-year-old New Jersey woman with a rapidly progressing form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. Stockman-Mauriello’s doctor has requested that Biogen authorize an experimental ALS drug, tofersen, to treat her under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s expanded access protocol. But tofersen is still in Phase 3 clinical trials, and Biogen, citing the need to protect the integrity of the trial, has denied Stockman-Mauriello the drug.