Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) has awarded US$ 2.2 million to Limmatech Biologics AG to advance the development of its novel vaccine candidate to prevent Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections.

Jasper Therapeutics Inc. has presented data at the AAAAI 2024 conference regarding its CD117-targeting antibody briquilimab and its potential use in allergy and CD117-triggered anaphylactic reactions.

Plexin domain containing 2 (PLXDC2) is expressed on the surface of several cell types, such as macrophages, dendritic or epithelial cells. Its activation reduces oxidative stress and rebalances the immune response and decreases inflammation. Its activation has been seen to improve disease severity in models of rheumatoid arthritis, while its blockade or loss exacerbates the severity of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis. Researchers hence tested the PLXDC2 agonist PX-04 (Landos Biopharma Inc.) in a DSS-induced murine model of colitis.

Abbvie Inc. and Tentarix Biotherapeutics Inc. have established a multiyear collaboration focused on the discovery and development of conditionally active, multispecific biologic candidates against one target in oncology and another in immunology.

Proto-oncogene Vav (VAV1) is a guanine exchange factor that is crucial for T- and B-cell receptor signaling. Assays in Vav1-knockout murine models had previously demonstrated diminished effector functions and resistance to autoimmune disease. Monte Rosa Therapeutics AG has presented data on the VAV1 inhibitor MRT-6160, a first-in-class molecule that targets VAV1 for proteasomal degradation, thought to potentially treat autoimmune diseases through the degradation of VAV1.

Autoantibodies call to mind disease – autoimmune disease, to be exact. But the physiological roles of autoantibodies are, at the very least, more complex than this view accounts for. “The autoantibody reactome is extraordinary,” Aaron Ring told BioWorld. “Nearly everyone has autoantibodies, whether they know it or not.”

The biological processes giving rise to the central nervous system symptoms of long COVID remain a mystery. But multiple studies suggest they do not appear to be a result of a direct viral infection of brain tissue. The latest such research, which appeared online in Nature Neuroscience on Feb. 16, 2024, demonstrated that local immune response in brain tissues persisted long after SARS-CoV-2 virus had disappeared.

A vaccine based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology against four surface proteins of the envelope and the inner membrane of the mpox virus (MPXV) demonstrated its efficacy in two animal models. Biontech SE scientists designed and tested two different combinations of antigens in mice and macaques for the two infective forms of the virus. One of them showed better results for its evaluation in clinical trials preventing the disease.