Positive early stage data for Verve Therapeutics Inc.’s base editing therapy points to a range of development options, including bringing partner Eli Lilly and Co. in a little closer. The new data helped ease the company’s pain from the April 2 enrollment pause of a similarly designed therapy from Verve. Verve’s Heart-2 phase Ib of VERVE-102 in treating 14 patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia and/or premature coronary artery disease showed one infusion led to dose-dependent decreases in blood PCSK9 protein levels and low density lipoprotein cholesterol.
With a promising IL-36 inhibitor for atopic dermatitis (AD, or eczema) at the phase II stage, Turn Therapeutics Inc. has gained $75 million in post-public commitments and meanwhile is pursuing a grassroots strategy to keep the coffers in balance.
U.K. scientists developed a saliva-based test which better predicts the risk of prostate cancer than current prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood tests by analyzing DNA to look for genetic variants linked to prostate cancer and calculating a polygenic risk score.
AI could significantly improve the value of patient recalls following mammography, but so far radiologists seem reluctant to rely on computer-aided readings. Radiologists tend to trust their own judgment – and that of their colleagues – in mammogram readings far more than AI-based diagnostics, even when the AI is much more accurate, a prospective trial analysis published in Radiology by Karolinska Institutet researchers found.
The U.K. government is to invest £500 million (US$645 million) in a health data research service that will provide a single point of access to national-scale anonymized patient records, ending the need to navigate different systems or make multiple applications to use information.
The sparsity of mid-to-late stage prospects in atopic dermatitis (AD, or eczema) – which has proved an especially challenging indication – plus some newsmaking fizzles in the space have caused developers to probe new targets with particular intensity. Most popular approaches thus far involve IL-4, IL-13, thymic stromal lymphopoietin and JAK. Developers have stumbled for varying reasons such as high placebo response rates, safety or lack of clinical proof of concept. Among the potential AD rescuers is Nektar Therapeutics Inc. with rezpegaldesleukin (rezpeg), which takes aim at IL-2.
Tryptamine Therapeutics Ltd. is gearing up to enter the clinic with lead compound TRP-8803, an intravenous-infused psilocybin therapy, in patients with binge eating disorder in conjunction with psychotherapy.
Alzheon Inc.’s oral treatment for people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease missed its phase III primary endpoint, adding yet another therapy to a long list by many developers that can’t beat dementia. The study also received grant money, which is in increasingly short supply.
As developers continue to search for better amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) therapies, Neurosense Therapeutics Ltd. turned up some hopeful findings from its phase IIb Paradigm trial with PrimeC. The drug, a combination therapy (ciprofloxacin and celecoxib) designed to target multiple ALS pathways, is having salutary effects on microRNA modulation (miRNA), Neurosense said, with the study showing a “profound and consistent” downregulation of 161 mature miRNAs across all time points in the double-blind period of the experiment.
Remegen Co. Ltd. emerged as a surprise challenger in the generalized myasthenia gravis space, unveiling positive phase III data of its China-approved lupus drug, telitacicept (RCT-18; Tai’ai), in the rare autoimmune neuromuscular disorder at the 2025 American Academy of Neurology conference.
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