One of the challenges in designing genetic and cellular strategies is getting the therapy to the right place. This is even more complicated when it comes to the nervous system. The brain is a complex organ that contains the most differentiated and inaccessible cells in human biology. It is an impassable safe, protected by the blood-brain barrier.
Roche AG acquired global rights to Zion Pharma Ltd.’s lead program, ZN-A-1041, an orally administered selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is designed to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and can prevent and treat brain metastases in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients.
Recent studies indicate that the hyperactivation of the PD-1/PD-L1 axis in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brain has an influence on disease pathophysiology. With this in mind, researchers from Sungkyunkwan University evaluated INR-301, a novel superior blood-brain barrier (BBB)-penetrating anti-PD-L1 antibody, in an AD model.
Whether as primary tumors or metastases, brain tumors remain stubbornly intractable to the progress that has occurred in many other tumor types. As Igor Vivanco, who is a senior lecturer in the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science at King’s College London, noted in his talk at the European Society for Medical Oncology Targeted Anticancer Therapies (ESMO TAT) meeting in Paris this week, the last win in glioblastoma was the addition of temozolomide to the radiotherapy standard of care in 2005. And temozolomide’s benefit is measured in months, not years.
Scientists at USA Elixiria Biotech Inc. and colleagues described data from preclinical studies evaluating the potential of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) agonist, ELB-00824, for protection against chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain (CINP).
While NASA gets the glory for exploration of the vast unknown of space, Bionaut Labs Ltd. hopes to reap similar fame by transforming travel through the brain with Bionauts, microrobots designed to deliver therapeutic payloads across the blood-brain barrier. To help achieve that mission, the company raised $43.2 million in a series B financing round led by Khosla Ventures.
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a target in many cancers, but EGFR inhibitors have displayed little utility in treating glioblastoma (GBM) due to limited blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration.