Longitude Prize on ALS
Longitude Prize on ALS supports multidisciplinary teams using AI to discover, prioritise and validate therapeutic targets, seeking the strongest evidence of potential to advance ALS treatment.
Funder: ALS Association
Due Dates: December 3, 2025 (Stage 1, closed) | April 30, 2028 (Stage 3, expected) | August 31, 2030 (Winner applications, expected)
Funding Amounts: £7.5 million (~$10 million) prize programme; staged awards of £100,000, £200,000, and £500,000, plus £1 million for one winner
Summary: Supports AI-based discovery, prioritisation, and laboratory validation of therapeutic targets for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Key Information: Open to organisations worldwide, including academic groups, companies, nonprofits, and partnerships; entries must be in English.
Description
The Longitude Prize on ALS is funded by the ALS Association and presented by Challenge Works. It incentivises AI-based approaches to transform drug discovery for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common form of motor neurone disease. The programme seeks new, high-potential therapeutic targets, or new evidence for known but unvalidated targets, with the ultimate goal of identifying the target with the strongest evidence of therapeutic potential.
Research progresses through three stages: Discovery, Prioritise, and Validate. Teams first identify targets through computational work, then build evidence in silico and in the laboratory, and finally undertake wet-lab validation of the most promising targets. Expert assessors and a multidisciplinary judging panel evaluate progress as the competition advances toward a single winning team.
