At the 2025 meeting of the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. On the first full day of the conference, reports from the first HIV cure trial conducted in Africa, the RIO trial and others showed that perhaps, a broadly useful cure is on the horizon.

Eosinophilic otitis media (EOM) is a type 2-related otitis media. Scientists at the Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine have developed a new EOM animal model in guinea pigs by using the plant protease papain. Papin was intratympanically administered in a daily basis. They also investigated the expression of innate lymphoid cell type 2 (ILC2) in the middle ear mucosa of these animals.

The overproduction of immunoglobulin E (IgE) resulting from alterations in the humoral immune response contributes to the development of allergic and atopic diseases such as allergic asthma and rhinitis, chronic spontaneous urticaria or food allergies and acute anaphylaxis.

Mabylon AG recently provided preclinical data for MY-006, a half-life extended trispecific anti-peanut antibody being developed for the treatment of peanut allergy.

Cholangiocarcinoma includes several biliary malignant tumors that have poor prognosis. Post-translational modifications in proteins lead to abnormal protein dynamics and disturbances that may cause pathology.

Lysine demethylase 6A (KDM6A) is a demethylase that plays a key role at regulating developmental gene expression signatures in several tissues, including neuronal cells. The KDM6A gene is located in chromosome X and pathogenic variants in this gene are tied to Kabuki syndrome type 2. Even though progress in understanding the functions of KDM6A has been made, its role in cochlear development and auditory function remains poorly understood.

Researchers from Vicero Inc. have developed a Vincobody platform, which allows for design of novel proprietary VHH antibody fragments that possess the efficacy of dual checkpoint blockade while mitigating the toxicity limitations of current monoclonal antibody therapies.

Previous research has demonstrated that activin receptor-like kinase 7 (ALK7) signaling suppresses lipolysis, resulting in increased adipocyte size and lipid content. Additionally, predicted loss of function variants in the ALK7 gene (ACVR1C) have been associated with reduced waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) adjusted for body mass index, protection from type 2 diabetes, as well as reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.

THB-335 is an oral inhibitor of mast/stem cell growth factor receptor Kit (KIT), which regulates the activation and migration of mast cells, making it a relevant therapeutic target for inflammatory and allergic processes.