Use of Drug to Slow Lou Gehrig’s Disease Urged

Patients with Lou Gehrig’s disease should be allowed to take a free experimental drug that promises to slow, but not stop, their relentless paralysis, government advisors recommended Friday.

If the Food and Drug Administration agrees, thousands of patients could begin vying to get Myotrophin free through a lottery while manufacturer Cephalon Inc. seeks full approval to sell it.

The decision posed a dilemma for the FDA advisors. One Cephalon study indicated Myotrophin could slow the inexorable progression of the devastating disease as much as 20%--but a second study raised serious doubts.

“It’s a close call,” explained Dr. Robert Temple, the agency’s drug chief. Temple called the highly unusual advisory committee meeting when FDA doctors couldn’t agree among themselves whether to expand experimental access to Myotrophin.