Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery remains the gold standard treatment for patients with severe atherosclerosis, but the long-term failure of the grafted veins is a persistent challenge. Excessive vascular smooth muscle cell (vSMC) proliferation in the grafted tissue, promoted by the increased exposure of vSMCs to pro-inflammatory mediators and cytokines, is a key driver of late CABG failure. A team of researchers from the University of Edinburgh and collaborators previously identified a human-specific long noncoding RNA, named SMILR, that is enriched in vSMC and promotes its proliferation.
Mabwell Bioscience Co. Ltd. and Aditum Bio Management Co. LLC announced, in after-market hours Sept. 17, an agreement to forge a new company called Kalexo Bio Inc. and load the biotech with a preclinical dyslipidemia asset via a potential $1 billion global license deal.
Mabwell Bioscience Co. Ltd. and Aditum Bio Management Co. LLC announced, in after-market hours Sept. 17, an agreement to forge a new company called Kalexo Bio Inc. and load the biotech with a preclinical dyslipidemia asset via a potential $1 billion global license deal.
Mabwell (Shanghai) Bioscience Co. Ltd. and Aditum Bio Management Company LLC have announced the launch of Kalexo Bio, a new company formed in conjunction with an exclusive global license agreement to develop 2MW7141.
Rona Therapeutics Co. Ltd. has announced an IND filing with the Australian Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) for RN-3161 for obesity. RN-3161, a novel siRNA developed through Rona’s proprietary GAIA platform, targets INHBE to reduce fat while preserving lean mass.
Argo Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and its RNAi work drew Novartis AG back to the table for a third time, as the companies entered a potential $5.2 billion deal involving cardiovascular-focused assets, including a right to first negotiation for BW-00112, an angiopoietin-like protein 3-targeting siRNA in phase II testing in severe hypertriglyceridemia.
Argo Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and its RNAi work drew Novartis AG back to the table for a third time, as the companies entered a potential $5.2 billion deal involving cardiovascular-focused assets, including a right to first negotiation for BW-00112, an angiopoietin-like protein 3-targeting siRNA in phase II testing in severe hypertriglyceridemia.
A few years after it was founded with the aim of taking RNA therapies to the next level, Arnatar Therapeutics Inc. emerged from stealth, disclosing a $52 million series A round raised in 2024 as well as U.S. FDA orphan and rare pediatric disease designations for ART-4, an antisense oligonucleotide candidate targeting the root cause of Alagille syndrome.
Amid the increasingly competitive myasthenia gravis drug development space, siRNA candidate cemdisiran met phase III endpoints, with the monotherapy showing numerically higher results than a combination product. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., which has a worldwide license to cemdisiran from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., plans to file for U.S. approval in generalized myasthenia gravis, a rare and chronic autoimmune disease leading to life-threatening muscle weakness, in the first quarter of 2026.
In Parkinson’s disease, α-synuclein accumulates in neurons and may thereby contribute to their degeneration. Reducing expression of α-synuclein may be an effective therapy, but delivering short interfering RNA (siRNA) to the brain noninvasively is notoriously ineffective, in part because siRNA does not pass the blood-brain barrier efficiently.
