Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital recently detailed the discovery of [11C]SY-08, a new PET radiotracer that detects aggregated α-synuclein (α-Syn) fibrils in individuals with neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple system atrophy and dementia with Lewy bodies.
After many years of testing different monoclonal antibodies against amyloid-β protein, the results obtained are far from being outstanding, and the control of the progression and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains elusive. At the recent AD/PD 2024 conference held in Lisbon, new non-anti-amyloidogenic strategies in the starting line against AD were discussed. Professor Einar Sigurdsson from New York University gave a presentation entitled, “Single domain antibodies for therapy and diagnosis of synucleinopathies and tauopathies.”
NLS Pharmaceutics Ltd. has entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Aexon Labs Inc. granting NLS the opportunity to acquire global development and commercialization rights to Aexon’s next-generation nonsulfonamide dual orexin receptor agonists platform.
Siteone Therapeutics Inc. has provided details on the discovery of highly selective, potent, state-independent inhibitors of Nav1.7, a nonopioid target for the potential treatment of pain. While prior Nav1.7 inhibitors appear to bind the inactivated state preferentially, it was hypothesized that superior efficacy would be achievable by engaging all states/conformations of the channel.
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings expanded its blood biomarker test portfolio for Alzheimer’s disease, making its pTau217 test available by prescription in the U.S. as well as for research globally. The standalone test can also be used in monitoring patients undergoing treatment for the neurodegenerative disease.
Prosetta Biosciences Inc. has presented data on small molecules that inhibit cellular host factors needed for viral replication as a discovery tool to identify molecular interfaces upstream of Alzheimer’s disease cellular pathology.
It has been previously demonstrated that genetic loss-of-function of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) impairs microglia migration, with the TREM2 R47H variant having been linked to increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) due to impaired microglia clustering and enhanced neuronal damage.
Precision psychiatry got some love at two quite different meetings this week, the European Congress of Neuropsychopharmacology’s New Frontiers meeting and BioEurope Spring. The New Frontiers Meeting, an annual two-day meeting dedicated to cutting-edge issues in brain disease research, focused on big-picture and scientific – at times almost philosophical – questions of how to get to a classification scheme for brain disorders that aligns with the underlying biology.
Scientists at Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. have identified sodium channel protein type 10 subunit α (Nav1.8) channel blockers reported to be useful for the treatment of treatment of pain, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, urinary incontinence, multiple sclerosis and arrhythmia.