Researchers from Wuhan Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Jianghan University and collaborators recently showed that activating the endogenous transcription factors Ngn2 and Isl1 via CRISPRa can directly reprogram astrocytes into functional motor neurons in the mouse spinal cord.
Formation Bio Inc. acquired ex-China rights to Lynk Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.’s oral TYK2-inhibitor, LNK-01006, for up to $605 million. The phase I-ready central nervous system (CNS) candidate will be developed at Formation’s newly formed subsidiary, Bleecker Bio.
AC Immune SA plans talks with regulators based on positive interim safety and efficacy results from the phase II Vacsyn trial of its wholly owned anti-alpha-synuclein (a-syn) active immunotherapy ACI-7104.056 in early Parkinson’s disease (PD). The firm said that for the first time, data support targeting a-syn pathology via such a strategy. Disease-related biomarker results that suggest PD slowing include a-syn cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels and neurofilament light (NfL).
Flow Neuroscience AB received U.S. FDA 510(k) approval for its Flow at-home brain-stimulation device to treat major depressive disorder. The wearable headset uses mild electrical current to stimulate specific areas of the brain to reduce depressive symptoms in as little as three weeks.
Epilepsygtx Ltd. has raised a $33 million series A to fund a phase I/IIa trial of EPY-201, a gene therapy for treating drug-resistant focal epilepsy. EPY-201 uses an adeno-associated viral vector to deliver KCNA1, the gene encoding Kv1.1, a potassium ion channel that modulates neuronal excitability.
Researchers from Neumirna Therapeutics ApS have presented an anti-miR-134 ASO approach named NMT.001 for the potential treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy.
Mutations in the KCNT1 gene produce gain-of-function effects that lead to overactivation of the potassium channel and consequent disruption of normal neuronal electrical signaling. These alterations give rise to a severe, early-onset developmental and epileptic encephalopathy that is typically associated with a high seizure burden and resistance to standard antiseizure medications.
In an alternative to small molecules, researchers at the University of Ferrara and Università degli Studi di Padova sought to create an NOP agonist based on peptides, specifically dimers of peptides derived from native nociceptin.
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