Realta Life Sciences Inc. raised an additional $40 million in the final tranche of its series A investment, bringing the total the company has raised to more than $150 million through mission-driven investors and a family-office model.
Researchers from the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics and collaborators report the development of a gene silencing therapy for Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1A.
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC (MSD) has synthesized new indazole derivatives acting as potassium/sodium hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channel 1 (HCN1) and HCN2 blockers potentially useful for the treatment of pain, tinnitus, neurological and mood disorders.
Newco Sononeu Inc. has launched to translate more than a decade of basic research in controlling cells with ultrasound into novel, non-invasive therapies for conditions including peripheral and diabetic neuropathy. The underlying technology of sonogenetics provides the ability to manipulate cellular activity via ultrasound-sensitive ion channels that respond to acoustic pressure. These channels may be endogenous, or could be delivered by targeted vectors to specific cell types.
Accure Therapeutics has reported new oligopeptide derivatives acting as matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 inhibitors. As such, they are described as potentially useful for the treatment of epilepsy, schizophrenia, autism, cancer, mood disorder, sepsis, Alzheimer’s disease and vascular disorders, among others.
Newco Sononeu Inc. has launched to translate more than a decade of basic research in controlling cells with ultrasound into novel, non-invasive therapies for conditions including peripheral and diabetic neuropathy.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has patented new macrocyclic sulfonamide orexin OX2 receptor agonists potentially useful for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, obesity, hypertension, retinopathy, multiple sclerosis, narcolepsy, hypersomnia and Parkinson's disease, among others.
Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. has reported new G protein-coupled receptor GPR88 agonists that are potentially useful for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia.
Kinase inhibitors have shown success in disease areas such as oncology, but their application in neurodegenerative diseases is still limited. This is mainly due to several challenges, such as the complexity of kinase networks, limited blood-brain barrier permeability and the lack of biomarkers.
Hopes in postpartum depression (PPD) with an oral version of brexanolone – a synthetic formulation of the endogenous neurosteroid allopregnanolone, approved by the U.S. FDA in 2019 when given intravenously for PPD – were dashed, at least near term, when Lipocine Inc. reported that the candidate failed in a phase III placebo-controlled trial.