Newronika SpA's AlphaDBS recently secured an investigational device exemption from the U.S. FDA allowing it to begin a pivotal trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of its adaptive deep brain stimulation system in patients with movement disorders, including Parkinson's disease.
Microglia play a crucial role in neuroinflammation after ischemic brain injury. Previous data have shown that leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor B4 (LILRB4) was upregulated in mice after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), but the role it plays here is not well understood. The role LILRB4 plays in ischemic brain injury was thus investigated. LILRB4 expression was measured in mice at different time points after MCAO.
Researchers from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and affiliated organizations presented preclinical data for the α5-GABA-A receptor (α5-GABAAR) positive allosteric modulator GL-II-73 (DPX-101), which is being developed by Damona Pharmaceuticals Inc. for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive and neurological disorders.
Cognition Therapeutics Inc. evolved from the work of a neuroscientist and a chemist working in the San Francisco Bay area, seeking out targets to block the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. Since the company’s 2007 inception, it has received close to $200 million in U.S. NIH grant funding. Investors often tell CEO Lisa Ricciardi, who joined the company in 2020: “’That’s because you have a relationship with the FDA.’ Well, no. It’s because it’s competitive” and the company’s research has met the muster. “You have to apply two or three times. … It’s with rigor that these results are generated and that we’re able to get more funding.”
The Brigham and Women's Hospital Inc., Massachusetts General Hospital and UCL Business Ltd. have jointly patented new benzo[c][l,2,5]thiadiazolyl compounds and radiolabeled derivatives targeting α-synuclein, amyloid-β (Aβ) protein and microtubule-associated protein tau.
Early dysfunction of the endothelial/blood-brain barrier (BBB) is involved in the pathogenesis of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), which is a contributor to about 50% of dementias. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a sphingolipid that regulates the BBB integrity when bound to its receptor S1P1 on endothelial cells.
Cure Rare Disease has been awarded a $5.69 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to advance the development of an antisense oligonucleotide therapy for spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3).
Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2D (LGMD2D/R3) is a rare genetic disorder caused by mutations in the SGCA gene, leading to defective folding and the loss of functional α-sarcoglycan, with progressive muscle degeneration. There is currently no approved treatment targeting the underlying cause of the disease.
F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. and Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. have described NAD(+) hydrolase SARM1 (SAMD2; MyD88-5) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of neurodegeneration.