SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — One San Diego biotech company is putting a new spin on how to talk about people's fight against ALS; iXCells Biotechnologies is taking it outdoors.
The company, which is based in Scripps Ranch, is sending a team of cyclists all the way to Death Valley to spark conversations among different groups about the disease that impacts the nervous system.
The goal is to get those scientists to talk about the technologies they work with and how they can be used to find a cure for the disease.
That team of cyclists that studies rare diseases took off for Death Valley on Monday.
The President of iXCells biotechnologies, Nianwei Lin, isn't a part of the cycling team, but he'll be supporting the mission, driving his RV over 300 miles from San Diego to Death Valley.
He said it's important to recognize that people all around the world are fighting the disease.
"We are very close to the finish line to find a cure for this disease, so that is the message we are trying to deliver. If you remember 10 years ago, we had the ice bucket challenge, causing a lot of awareness in the public, but there was no cure. Nothing has happened in the past 10 years, but things are starting to change," he said.
The company works with young patients, mostly on rare diseases that impact the brain.
The bikers will travel 400 miles over a nine-day span.
