Researchers at Ileadbms Co. Ltd. have announced promising results of their novel drug IL-21120033 in a preclinical model of rheumatoid arthritis. The drug acts as a selective agonist of the chemokine receptor CXCR7.

Rheumatoid arthritis, atopic dermatitis, ulcerative colitis and several other inflammatory diseases involve hyperactivation of JAK-STAT signaling, in which the kinase JAK binds and phosphorylates the transcription factor STAT, which then turns on gene expression.

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.

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.

Adult skeletal muscle tolerates a lack of the coenzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), according to a study led by scientists at the University of Copenhagen. Their results suggest that adverse effects previously associated with congenital NAD depletion in this tissue may be due to impaired muscle development rather than to a deficiency of this molecule.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disorder marked by joint inflammation, cartilage loss and bone damage. Although biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs have improved treatment outcomes, the disease remains incurable.

Previous studies have shown that protein expression of DOCK7 is increased in skeletal muscle biopsies from patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), leading researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and affiliated organizations to assess the functional impact of DOCK7 on normal muscle and embryonic development of zebrafish.