By the end of November 2024, the BioWorld Neurological Diseases Index had dropped 13.4%, deepening its decline of 9.4% at the end of August. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 19.16% in the first 11 months of the year, building on a 10.81% gain reported at the end of October. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index posted a year-to-date increase of 6.27% through November, retreating from its peak gain of 11.7% in August.

News that Trevi Therapeutics Inc. got the size just right of the phase IIb Coral trial with Haduvio (oral nalbuphine extended release) led the company’s shares (NASDAQ:TRVI) to close Dec. 12 at $3.60, up $1.11, or 45%, after trading as high as $4.60.

Researchers from State University of New Jersey (Rutgers) presented preclinical data for PW-507, a sigma-1 receptor antagonist being evaluated for the treatment of binge eating disorder.

Epileptic encephalopathy due to mutations in the STXBP1 gene, also known as genetic epilepsy, is a rare disease characterized by intellectual disability, speech and motor impairment and behavioral issues, among others, that affects 1 in every 30,000 newborns and which has no approved therapies to date.

Researchers from Maplight Therapeutics Inc. presented preclinical data for the investigational muscarinic M1/M4 receptor agonist ML-007, being evaluated for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The activity of ML-007 was compared to that of another muscarinic M1/M4 agonist, xanomeline.

Researchers from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) have successfully replicated the design of regulatory T cells, achieving local targeted immune suppression and protection from CAR T-cell cytotoxicity. Many of the treatments used so far in the context of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders lead to systemic immunosuppression. In this sense, limiting immunosuppression locally to targeted tissues may help overcome systemic toxicity.

China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) granted new approvals to several Chinese biopharmaceuticals this week, including expanding indications of four different cancer drugs and clearing one sublingual tablet for stroke.