FDA approves new drug funded by 2014's viral Ice Bucket Challenge

Remember the viral ice bucket challenge? Normal folks and celebs dumped huge buckets of ice-cold water on their heads in 2014, donated money to the ALS Association, and challenged others to join in, too.

Mark Zuckerberg challenged Bill Gates, Gates challenged Ryan Seacrest, and Seacrest chucked a tiny hotel room ice bucket over his head, donated a paltry $100, and called out David Beckham and Selena Gomez. It was quite a time.

Well, all that water throwing was worth it says the ALS Association, who announced that a drug partly funded by proceeds from the Ice Bucket Challenge was approved by the FDA on Sep. 29.

According to the association, the challenge raised $115 million from more than 17 million videos, $2.2 million of which went towards the development of the newly-approved medication Relyvrio, which slows the progression of ALS. It's proof that "the Ice Bucket Challenge dramatically accelerated the fight against ALS," says the Association's president and CEO Calaneet Balas.

The chill-inducing trend was created by Pat Quinn and Pete Frates, two young men who were living with ALS and passed away in 2020 and 2019 respectively. “We are thinking of Pat Quinn and Pete Frates," said Balas, "who championed the Ice Bucket Challenge and changed the trajectory of ALS forever.”  

In 2019, an independent research organization surveyed ALS researchers about the impact of resources provided by proceeds from the Ice Bucket Challenge. 84 percent of respondents said support from the Association since the Challenge accelerated their work "quite a bit or very much," while 72 percent of respondents said funding improved their ability to receive additional funding.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that stiffens muscles and can impair brain function until someone is no longer able to move, eat, speak, or breathe. There is no known cure.