Chengdu Kanghong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has disclosed leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2; dardarin) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, type 1 diabetes, glaucoma, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, neurodegeneration, psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, among others.
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that it received no objections from the U.S. FDA to move pilavapadin, its non-opioid candidate for diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain, into phase III study, pushing company shares up near 20% on the day.
A team of international researchers is investigating whether a finger-prick blood test could be used to help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms appear. With current diagnostic methods relying on expensive brain scans and invasive lumbar punctures, the trial is exploring whether the simple test could offer a faster, cheaper, and more accessible route to identifying the disease.
The good news is that the U.S. Congress is on track to pass a slate of fiscal 2026 spending bills before the current continuing resolution expires Jan. 30. So, barring any last-minute disputes or legislative hostage-taking, there should be no repeat of last year’s 43-day shutdown that impacted NIH grants and activities.
Nippon Zoki Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has discovered alkyne derivatives acting as GABA-A receptor subunit α1β2γ2 positive allosteric modulators. As such, they are believed to be useful for the treatment of sleep disorders.
Orexin OX2 receptor agonists have demonstrated the ability to enhance wakefulness in rodent models, as well as in nonhuman primates and patients with narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia. Based on recent findings, it has been hypothesized that they may also regulate cognition, mood and other neuropsychiatric functions. Furthermore, dysregulated orexin signaling has been reported in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) with suicide attempts.
Insilico Medicine Cayman Topco and Hygtia Therapeutics Co. Ltd. have entered into an exclusive license and co-development collaboration to advance ISM-8969 worldwide. ISM-8969 is an orally available, brain penetrant NLRP3 inhibitor for CNS disorders.
Sundance Biosciences Inc. has discovered non-receptor tyrosine-protein kinase TYK2 inhibitors potentially useful for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
Leigh syndrome is a fatal pediatric neurodegenerative disorder caused by mitochondrial dysfunction, most often due to defects in the mitochondrial respiratory chain. The Ndufs4 knockout (Ndufs4 KO) mouse is an established model of the disease, as loss of the NDUFS4 subunit leads to complex I (CI) deficiency and reproduces the neurological decline and pathology seen in affected children. Researchers from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute and collaborators described how NV-354, a water-soluble prodrug of succinate, may mitigate this mitochondrial dysfunction.
Zincure Corp. has discovered matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9, gelatinase B) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of epilepsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis, hypoglycemic encephalopathy and traumatic brain injury.
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