Kymera Therapeutics Inc. has announced a new oral IRF5 degrader program with potential to treat immuno-inflammatory diseases, such as lupus, Sjögren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.

Immunity is not a function most people particularly associate with the liver. But because of its connection to the gut, the liver is exposed to bacterial metabolites as few other organs are. And when either the liver or the gut is not functioning well, it can adversely affect immunity as well. The liver is connected to the gut via both the biliary system and the portal vein. Those two conduits allow metabolites from the gut microbiome to influence what’s going on in the liver. Both liver and gut damage can affect this communication for the worse. And surprisingly, one of the consequences is immune dysfunction.

Ahead Therapeutics SL has received positive feedback from the EMA on its way toward initiating regulatory toxicology studies for its lead program in myasthenia gravis. The feedback supports the company’s scientific approach.

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an immunoregulatory cytokine produced by a variety of immune cells, including type 1 regulatory T cells and macrophages, as well as nonimmune cells such as epithelial cells and fibroblasts.

Researchers from the Access to Advanced Health Institute and collaborating institutions have developed a promising new bivalent vaccine candidate that can protect against both yellow fever and Zika viruses. The study demonstrates that the vaccine elicits robust humoral and cellular immune responses in mice and hamsters and provides complete protection against lethal viral challenges.

While current influenza vaccines primarily target the variable hemagglutinin protein, the slower-evolving neuraminidase presents a promising target for the development of new vaccines providing broader protection.

Scientists at Institut Pasteur have gained new insights into how some people control HIV-1 replication after interruption of antiretroviral treatment (ART). The investigators found a fingerprint involved in long-term viral remission.

Research of the neuroimmune mechanisms involved in stress-related fear revealed how astrocytes interact with neurons in the amygdala. The study, led by Harvard scientists, also unveiled that this interaction recruited monocytes to the meninges during chronic stress and showed how psychedelic compounds reversed monocyte accumulation in the meninges and reduced fear behavior.

Granite Bio AG has emerged from stealth with $100 million in series A and B funding and a focus on developing first-in-class antibodies that target the root causes of a variety of inflammatory, autoimmune and fibrotic conditions.

Repertoire Immune Medicines Inc. has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Genentech Inc., a member of the Roche Group, to discover and develop innovative T cell-targeted immune medicines to treat an autoimmune disease. Repertoire will use its Decode platform, which maps the immune synapse, to discover novel therapeutic targets.