While Alzheimer’s disease is known for involving amyloid-b plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, it also involves metabolic dysfunction, further research into which could help scientists understand how the disease occurs and how it can be treated.

Dewpoint Therapeutics Inc. has announced the selection of a development candidate for its TDP-43 program. The first-in-class small molecule is designed to correct disease-associated TDP-43 condensates, restoring normal TDP-43 function and addressing the core molecular pathology that drives neurodegeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and related diseases.

Debate over Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s Hetlioz (tasimelteon) for use in jet lag disorder looks to continue after the U.S. FDA rejected the latest supplemental NDA submission, with the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research concluding the application cannot be approved in its current form.

Shanghai Huilun Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has described compounds acting as 5-HT2A receptor agonists reported to be useful for the treatment of depression.

Kangbaida (Sichuan) Biotechnology Co. Ltd. has disclosed pyroptosis and NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, type 1 diabetes, gout, inflammatory disorders, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, autoimmune diseases and Alzheimer’s disease.

Loqus23 Therapeutics Ltd. has nominated LQT-23, a first-in-class allosteric oral small-molecule inhibitor of MSH3/MutSβ, as a development candidate for Huntington’s disease.