Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is among the most leading causes of death around the world and there are insufficient treatment options that prevent exacerbations or alter the progression of the disease. COPD is a complex disease with multiple factors driving inflammation, emphysema or small airway remodeling, among others, where interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 4 (IRAK-4) plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of the disease.
STAT6 plays a central role in regulating Th2-driven immune responses. Recent studies have identified gain-of-function mutations in the STAT6 gene that are associated with early-onset, severe allergic diseases. As a result, STAT6 has emerged as a promising therapeutic target in conditions such as asthma, eosinophilic inflammation, food allergies and atopic dermatitis, particularly in cases that are refractory to standard therapies.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a prevalent and heterogeneous respiratory disorder with limited effective treatments. IL-33 and IL-4Rα are key mediators of airway inflammation in COPD and hence represent potential therapeutic targets.
Galvanize Therapeutics Inc.’s Aliya pulsed electrical field system could enable surgeons to perform a biopsy and ablate lung tumors at the same time, a study in the Journal of Surgical Oncology indicates.
Pfizer Inc. is paying $1.25 billion up front and up to $4.8 billion in milestone payments to gain global, ex-China rights to SSGJ-707, a PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody from 3Sbio Inc. that recently won China clearance for a phase III study in lung cancer as a potential first-line monotherapy. Announced after U.S. market hours May 19, the exclusive agreement for SSGJ-707 spells up to $6.15 billion combined for Shenyang, China-based 3Sbio, along with separate tiered double-digit royalty payments on sales of SSGJ-707, if approved.
Atyr Pharma Inc. has advanced ATYR-0101 into IND-enabling studies for pulmonary fibrosis, and is targeting an IND application in the second half of next year.
The metabotropic nucleotide receptor P2Y14 shows strong potential as a therapeutic target against various inflammatory diseases, particularly acute lung injury, yet the small-molecule inhibitors described so far have performed poorly in preclinical studies.
BLR Bio LLC has announced new data on BLR-200, its lead compound for systemic sclerosis and lung fibrosis. In the new study, BLR-200 demonstrated the ability to reduce key disease tissue markers for fibrotic lung disease.
Equillium Inc. is advancing EQ-504, a potent aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) modulator acquired through the acquisition of Ariagen Inc., a company that was majority owned by Equillium’s largest investor, Decheng Capital.
A large-scale study has revealed the impact of germline variants on proteins in 10 cancer types. Scientists from the National Cancer Institute’s Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) conducted a precision proteogenomic analysis in a pan-cancer study with data from 1,064 patients, identifying tumor heterogeneity and tumorigenesis associated with heritable genetic alterations.