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Matteo Materazzi’s GoFundMe Tops €200,000 in Three Days as Family Seeks $1.5M for Personalized ALS Therapy

The campaign will finance a tailored TDP-43 ASO therapy at Columbia University to address the mutation’s unique scientific obstacles

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Overview

  • In three days the GoFundMe “Una speranza per Matteo” has raised €200,000 toward a $1.5 million target to develop a bespoke antisense oligonucleotide treatment for his rare TDP-43 ALS mutation.
  • Matteo, diagnosed in September 2024, lost use of his legs and arms within months and now relies on a wheelchair and respiratory support as the disease rapidly worsened.
  • His wife Maura Soldati notes that the TDP-43 protein’s dual role in neurons makes crafting specific ASO therapies more complex than prior SOD1 or FUS interventions.
  • The couple hopes the fundraiser will underwrite Matteo’s treatment costs and bolster wider ALS research, given patients face roughly €100,000 in annual out-of-pocket care expenses.
  • Family interviews reveal their sons, 18 and 16, carry a 15–20% chance of inheriting the mutation, highlighting the broader personal stakes as Dr. Shneider begins preclinical work at Columbia.