In recognition of the fact that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are necessary prerequisites for precision medicine, the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) announced the launch of a DEI Hub at its 11th Congress, which is being held in Helsinki through June 24. “We know now that when we talk about personalized medicine, we have to understand that talking about stroke, for example, in a woman is different than talking about stroke in a man,” EAN president Elena Moro told the audience at the opening session of the conference.
Actio Biosciences Inc. has synthesized potassium channel subfamily T member 1 (KCNT1) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of Brugada’s syndrome, early infantile epileptic encephalopathy, epilepsy of infancy with migrating focal seizures, epileptic encephalopathy, nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy, infantile spasm, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and myocardial infarction, among others.
Avata Biosciences Holdings Ltd. and Oceanus Bio Inc. have inked a drug discovery and development deal worth up to $95 million for two of Avata’s cannabidiol compounds.
Draig Therapeutics Ltd. launched with a $140 million series A and an AMPA receptor modulator program that has completed phase I and will start a phase II trial in major depressive disorder later in 2025. The series A also will enable the company to advance two small-molecule GABA receptor modulators that have the potential to treat a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, into the clinic in 2026.
Novartis AG has disclosed huntingtin (HTT; HD) (mutant) splicing modulators reported to be useful for the treatment of familial dysautonomia, Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy.
University of Sydney has synthesized translocator protein (TSPO; PBR) (A147T mutant) ligands reported to be useful for the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders.
Biogen Inc. has disclosed huntingtin (HTT; HD) (mutant) splicing modulators reported to be useful for the treatment of Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression involves microglial activation, and restoring or maintaining microglia homeostasis is a therapeutic approach to fight against AD.
Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc has obtained IND clearance from the FDA to initiate a phase I study of ORX-142 in healthy volunteers. ORX-142 is an investigational, novel, highly potent and selective OX2R agonist being developed for the treatment of select neurological and neurodegenerative disorders.