Breakthrough – or even better, revolutionary breakthrough – is perhaps the most overused term in drug development. But the discovery and development of GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs), which was honored with the 2024 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award just last week, is one of the rare innovations that is deserving of the title.

At the 2024 European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Congress, researchers have presented work that could lead to ways to boost brain development and prevent neurodegeneration in individuals with Down syndrome.

Innovent Biologics Inc. unveiled for the first time safety and efficacy data of IBI-354, an HER2 monoclonal antibody-camptothecin derivative conjugate that shows promising efficacy signals across a range of advanced solid tumors, during the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Congress. An HER2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate developed using Innovent's topoisomerase inhibitor NT3 platform, IBI-354 combines a hydrophilic linker design with a hydrophobic payload to enhance the bystander effect, targeting adjacent antigen-low or negative tumor cells.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy moved the needle at the 2024 ECTRIMS (European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis) congress and will continue to do so – not just in multiple sclerosis (MS), but in other autoimmune diseases as well.

Researchers from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co KG presented the discovery and preclinical characterization of new spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) inhibitors, BI-894416 and BI-1342561, being developed for the treatment of asthma.

Huadong Medicine Co. Ltd. recently revealed data from in vitro and preclinical studies performed to evaluate the efficacy and pharmacokinetic, safety and tolerability profiles of a dual glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R)/gastric inhibitory polypeptide receptor (GIPR) full agonist – HDM-1005.

Investigators from Abzyme Therapeutics LLC have hypothesized that inhibiting this pathway in the CNS may prevent tissue damage and cease the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Researchers from Johnson & Johnson presented the discovery of a novel inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (CDK7), a co-factor that controls transcription by phosphorylating the C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII).

Functionally active hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA is open and accessible, while the action of an epigenetic editor turns it into functionally inactive DNA, which is closed and inaccessible. Chroma Medicine Inc. has presented data regarding their epigenetic editor CRMA-1001, which is delivered by lipid nanoparticles.