Researchers from Verdiva Bio Ltd. and collaborators recently presented preclinical data on VRB-103, an oral amylin analogue, comparing its profile with those of cagrilintide and eloralintide, two subcutaneously administered analogues currently in clinical development.

Syracuse University recently presented a comprehensive preclinical program describing the rational design and optimization of peptide antagonists targeting the GDF15/GFRAL/RET receptor complex to mitigate nausea, emesis, anorexia and wasting associated with chemotherapy-induced stress signaling.

Pinnacle Medicines Inc. secured $89 million in a series B financing, bringing the total raised by the company to $134 million. The round was co-led by LAV and Foresite Capital.

Kalohexis LLC has launched as a spin-out from Endevica Bio Inc. with the goal of advancing the clinical development of a portfolio of drug candidates harnessing the melanocortin system for the treatment of metabolic disorders such as obesity and cancer cachexia.

In a recent publication in Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, investigators evaluated the activity of a 7-amino-acid peptide, EB-203, using a zebrafish model of diabetic retinopathy (DR)-like vascular alterations.

If one could sweep the brain clean and send the toxic substances that drive neurodegeneration to the recycling bin, perhaps one could treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences propose a new therapeutic strategy that uses synthetic peptides that bind to amyloid-β (Aβ) and direct it toward lysosomes. In addition, researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have genetically modified astrocytes in vivo to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) that recognize and phagocytose Aβ plaques.

Targeting the interaction between the C-terminal domain of the GluA2 subunit of AMPAR and brefeldin-resistant Arf-GEF 2 (BRAG2), a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for the small GTPase Arf6, presents a potential therapeutic approach for acute ischemic stroke.