A significant share of the risk and heritability of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is explained by rare genetic variants. A study led by scientists from Aarhus University in Denmark has uncovered their weight in this condition and identified three variants that will help to better understand their role, the risk of developing it, or its comorbidities, in contrast with the common and more frequent variants associated with ADHD.
Could GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs), already used in obesity and diabetes, be repurposed as drugs to slow aging? Hong Kong, one of the places in the world with the highest human longevity, is also home to a scientific study on the effects of GLP-1RAs. For the first time, scientists at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) have assessed their pharmacological potential in later life using a multiomics preclinical approach.
U.S. and European organ-on-a-chip specialty biotechnology companies are driving development of organ-on-a-chip technologies, fueled by the U.S. FDA’s decision to phase out animal testing for investigational new drugs.
At the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego this week, Catherine Woolley’s plenary lecture was an unusual combination of debunking and affirming the importance of sex differences in the brain.
The pricier offer by Lundbeck A/S for Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc – which follows last month’s agreement for a takeover by Alkermes plc – had Wall Street buzzing as pundits weighed the odds for each suitor.
Researchers from the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and their collaborators have identified adenosine as the driving force behind the rapid, fast-acting antidepressant effects of ketamine and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). “Our journey into this area of research began over a decade ago, around 2013, when the clinical world was buzzing with excitement about ketamine's remarkably rapid antidepressant effects,” Minmin Luo, co-senior author of the study, told BioWorld.
ABL Bio Inc. inked a license and research agreement with Eli Lilly and Co. worth up to $2.6 billion to develop multiple therapeutics using the Grabody-B platform. Under the terms announced Nov. 12, ABL will receive a $40 million up-front payment and up to $2.56 billion in development, regulatory and commercialization milestones, plus tiered royalties on net sales.
Alkermes plc’s placebo-controlled phase II study of alixorexton in treating narcolepsy type 2 (NT2) hit its dual primary endpoints, producing statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in wakefulness and excessive daytime sleepiness. Alkermes said alixorexton is the first oral orexin 2 receptor agonist that has shown efficacy in a large phase II clinical trial in those with NT2.
The U.S. FDA is turning the clock back more than 20 years to advance women’s health by narrowing the boxed warning on hormone replacement therapies (HRTs) for menopause. The agency announced at a Nov. 10 news conference that it’s working with companies to update their HRT labeling to remove references to risks of cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and probable dementia.
In Alzheimer’s disease, microglia act as a double-edged sword. They can either protect the brain or worsen the damage, depending on their activation state. Inflammatory activation harms healthy neurons. However, a study reveals that a special type of microglia expressing specific receptors and behaving like T cells may help mitigate this neurodegenerative condition.
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