Whether by fine-tuning neurotransmitter signaling or silencing disease-associated genes, emerging biologic therapies are reshaping neuroscience drug development, according to presentations at the FENS Forum 2026.

Chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) associated with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) are serious health problems in highly endemic areas. Investigators from the National Health Research Institutes have developed a protein-based recombinant vaccine, rHBx-rHBc149, for this unmet medical need.

At the recently opened FENS Forum 2026 in Barcelona – the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies’ flagship congress and Europe’s largest neuroscience meeting – a symposium on ectodomain shedding showcased how soluble synaptic proteins are emerging as both biomarkers and therapeutic candidates for disorders ranging from autism to schizophrenia.

Myelin is crucial for the correct functioning of nerve signaling and its loss is a feature of neurological disorders. The cells responsible for myelination in the CNS are oligodendrocytes (OLs), which derive from oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs).

Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) is a rare inherited lysosomal storage disorder characterized by progressive neurodegeneration resulting from loss of arylsulfatase A (ARSA) activity. Researchers at Kazan Federal University reported preclinical efficacy data for a gene therapy candidate in a porcine model of MLD.

Separate research teams have reported new insights into resistance mechanisms to the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) Padcev (enfortumab vedotin, Astellas Pharma Inc./Pfizer Inc.), and possibly to ADCs more broadly. Urothelial cancer drug Padcev, which targets the cell adhesion molecule Nectin-4, was approved in 2019 and is currently one of Pfizer’s top 10 medicines and vaccines, generating $1.94 billion in 2025.

Ovarian clear-cell carcinoma is a cancer characterized by inherent resistance to platinum-based therapies and lacks an effective targeted therapeutic approach. On the other hand, chaperone-mediated autophagy is a lysosomal degradation mechanism to stabilize cellular homeostasis during stressful scenarios, but its role in modulating platinum response in ovarian cancer is not well understood.

Researchers in Korea have investigated the interaction of SET-domain containing 1B (SET1B) with other proteins in vitro, as well as the impact of SET1B depletion in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines.

The majority of epilepsies are developmental disorders that start in childhood. But there is a large minority that starts in late adulthood. And increasingly, researchers are suspecting that such epilepsies share mechanisms with dementia. Summarizing the highlights of epilepsy research presented at the recent Annual Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN), Aleksandar Ristic told his audience that the biggest epilepsy story out of the Congress was “not a drug, but it was a reframing.”