JERUSALEM, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Israeli biotech company Immunity Pharma, which develops a new drug for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, announced on Monday that it will be entering a first clinical trial at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem, according to the financial website Globes.

The company is entering the trial after a compassionate treatment has already been performed for a single patient. The treatment managed to freeze the condition of his illness for two years.

ALS is a muscular dystrophy that attacks relatively randomly and is characterized by rapid deterioration. Patients usually go from full functioning to complete paralysis and death within 2 to 5 years.

Immunity Pharma believes that ALS is caused by inflammation of the nerve cells. The new medicine works on several mechanisms related to the development of inflammation.

The drug activates intra-cellular healing processes, which are common to several neurodegenerative diseases with a similar biological background that are currently inadequately addressed.

Immunity Pharma has raised 5 million U.S. dollars to date, most of them in the last four years, including a round that is currently ending.

Among the private investors are a group invested in autonomous vehicle Israeli company Mobileye, fund managers and experts in the biomedical industry.

Immunity Pharma was founded in 2007 and headquartered in Mevaseret Zion, a suburb of Jerusalem.