Although the U.S. FDA unexpectedly sprang the news on Eli Lilly and Co. that it would hold an advisory committee meeting on the BLA for the company’s Alzheimer’s disease drug, donanemab, the agency’s briefing document for the June 10 meeting doesn’t appear to hold any surprises.
Scientists at Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou Vigonvita Life Sciences Co. Ltd. and The Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics & Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have disclosed NMDA receptor antagonists reported to be useful for the treatment of neurological disorders.
Alchemab Therapeutics Ltd. has been awarded a grant of $595,000 by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) to support its Parkinson’s disease program.
An experimental drug that restored the normal function of ion channels in Alzheimer's disease (AD) prevented the loss of neurons and reduced the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau formed in this condition. A new class of small molecules, collectively called ReS19-T and developed by scientists at the Belgian biotechnology company Remynd NV, reorganized proteins that modulated calcium channels. Now in the clinical phase, this approach could benefit patients suffering from neurodegenerative disorders.
The discussion that preceded the June 4 U.S. FDA advisory committee vote against the approval of Lykos Therapeutics Inc.’s midomafetamine as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder could shine some light on the way forward for other sponsors developing psychedelics for approved medical use.
A collaborating team of researchers from Northwestern University and Rice University continue to build intellectual property for an implanted biohybrid (bioelectronic/engineered cell) device that has been likened to an implantable pharmacy on a chip that never runs out.
Sensorium Therapeutics Inc. has identified alkylated derivatives of mesembrine or mesembrenone acting as serotonin transporter (SERT) and/or phosphodiesterase PDE4 inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of anxiety, depression and stress disorders.
Shenzhen Borui Pharmaceutical Technology Co. Ltd. has disclosed Mas-related G-protein coupled receptor member X4 (MRGPRX4; SNSR5; SNSR6) antagonists reported to be useful for the treatment of autoimmune disease, cancer and more.
Although several members of the U.S. FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee said they thought Lykos Therapeutics Inc.’s midomafetamine (MDMA), used in combination with psychotherapy, is a promising treatment for post-traumatic stress syndrome, they were not ready to endorse its approval.
Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd.’s NNZ-2591 met the primary endpoints in a phase II trial in children with Pitt Hopkins syndrome, with improvements seen in communication, social interaction, cognition and motor abilities, according to top-line results.