Compared to other forms of prevention, a unique issue for pandemic preparedness is that it is forever unclear what pathogen, exactly, the world needs to be prepared for. There are an estimated 300,000 viruses that infect mammals; add in birds, and the estimate grows to more than half a million. Some of those viruses are much greater threats than others.

Neurodegenerative pathologies, once primarily associated with protein alterations, should be revisited in the context of lipidopathies, researchers argued at the 2025 International Conference of Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Disease and Related Neurological Disorders (AD/PD 2025).

Malignant melanoma (MM) is among the most lethal cutaneous neoplasms, frequently tied to metastasis and poor outcomes. Neural cell adhesion molecule L1 (L1CAM) is a protein that has been associated with poor prognosis in several cancer types, but its association with MM is poorly understood.

The I148M mutation in the PNPLA3 gene, which encodes patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3, is known to confer risk of fatty liver, cirrhosis and hepatic inflammation, which may lead to hepatocellular carcinoma or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).

Using its proprietary FBDD platform, Blacksmith discovered FG-2101, the prodrug form of FG-960, the first known non-hydroxamate LpxC inhibitor that exerted activity against LpxC at the nanomolar range.

The survival and plasticity of neurons depends on the signaling of the nerve growth factors BDNF and NGF acting through TRK receptors, which is crucial in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Alzecure Pharma’s ACD-856 is a positive allosteric modulator (PAM) of TRK receptors that is in phase I trials for AD, and has shown good safety, pharmacokinetics and target engagement in the central nervous system.

Neurodegenerative pathologies, once primarily associated with protein alterations, should be revisited in the context of lipidopathies, researchers argued at the 2025 International Conference of Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Disease and Related Neurological Disorders (AD/PD 2025).

The detection of metastases in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) requires additional testing, such as pancytokeratin (panCK) or CK20, with no guarantee of success. Recent findings have identified transcription factor SOX11 and insulinoma-associated protein 1 (INSM1) as sensitive nuclear neuroendocrine markers, but their usefulness in MCC has not been proven.

Spark Therapeutics Inc. has presented a proprietary adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector expressing an artificial miRNA targeting human α-synuclein (α-Syn) mRNA. Accumulation of misfolded and insoluble α-Syn causes neuronal toxicity in preclinical models and has been identified as the underlying cause of synucleinopathies.