More than a decade after it was first proposed, the U.S. Precision Medicine Initiative that grew into the NIH’s All of Us dataset has reached its target of collecting genetic and health-related data from 1 million Americans representative of the diversity across the country.
Vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) and cerebral small vessel disease are among the leading causes of dementia, where inflammation is known to play a crucial role. Researchers from Augusta University in the U.S. hypothesized that inhibiting the NLRP3 inflammasome with MCC-950 may improve cognitive decline and cerebral blood flow in a murine model of VCID.
Viking Therapeutics Inc. said after-market hours Feb. 11 that it plans to advance its oral dual GLP-1/GIP receptor, VK-2735, into a phase III trial for obesity in the third quarter of 2026. VK-2735 is a novel dual glucagon-like peptide-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GLP-1/GIP) receptor agonist.
At the recent International Stroke Conference, researchers from VST Bio Corp. and Yale University presented preclinical data regarding VB-001, a monoclonal antibody that targets syndecan 2 (SDC2) and is also known as VST-002.
Citing an increase in safety events and evidence of futility, the U.S. NIH stopped an investigational low-dose rivaroxaban arm of its Comparison of Anticoagulation and Antiplatelet Therapies for Intracranial Vascular Atherostenosis (CAPTIVA) trial.
Boston Scientific Corp. recently reported new four-year data on its Farapulse pulsed field ablation platform, which demonstrated that patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation achieved better long-term success than those treated with thermal ablation. The data come as sales of the Farapulse system in the U.S. have begun to slow amid rising competition from other PFA technologies, particularly Medtronic plc’s Affera platform.
The malfunction of lymphatic drainage that occurs in lymphedema leads to excessive cholesterol accumulation in the affected skin and lymphatic vessels, causing inflammation and fibrosis. However, surgery and the chemical reduction of accumulated cholesterol with cyclodextrin reduce inflammation and regenerate lymphatic vessels. Cholesterol is a potential therapeutic target for treating lymphedema, according to this study published on Feb. 11, 2026, in Nature by Veronique Angeli and her colleagues.
Hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HIBI) is a condition affecting neonates and is a leading global cause of perinatal neurological morbidity, with limited therapeutic options. Regarding its pathogenesis, the ion channel-kinase transient receptor potential melastatin 7 (TRPM7) is a known contributor to HIBI pathology and was the focus of a recently reported study.
Wall Street pushback against relaxin player Tectonic Therapeutic Inc. was sharp, but a trial design that differs could save the drug from the fate of Astrazeneca plc’s long-acting relaxin-2 analogue, AZD-3427, which the pharma giant has “removed from phase II,” where it was being tested in a trial called Re-phire, because of less than ideal efficacy.
Insight Lifetech Co. Ltd. listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR market via an unprofitable biotech track reinstated last year, with the Feb. 5 IPO raising ¥998.64 million (US$143.93 million).