Jynneos, a current vaccine against orthopoxviruses such as smallpox and mpox virus, elicits only modest antibody responses, highlighting the need to search for more immunogenic vaccines or treatments. The global outbreak of mpox virus infections in 2022 lent urgency to this challenge.
“The impoverished laboratory environment in which mice and rats are maintained has been very good at increasing experimental replicability,” Steven Austad told the audience at the 12th Aging Research & Drug Discovery Meeting (ARDD) in Copenhagen last week. “But at the cost of sacrificing translational relevance.”
Samjin Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has synthesized Mas-related G-protein coupled receptor member X2 (MRGPRX2) antagonists reported to be useful for the treatment of allergy, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis and migraine.
Effective vaccines against Staphylococcus aureus remain out of reach: 10 candidates that showed promise in preclinical animal models have failed in clinical trials. Researchers at Third Military Medical University and collaborators reasoned that one of the reasons might be that 70%-80% of the population has developed antibodies to the pathogen.
Guangzhou Fermion Technology Co. Ltd. has described non-receptor tyrosine-protein kinase TYK2 (JH2 domain) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of allergy, autoimmune disease, cancer, dermatological disorders, dry eye, myelofibrosis, neurological disorders and transplant rejection, among others.
New research has filled in missing links between gene variants that have been implicated in disease through genome-wide association studies and how the variants drive disease pathology. The research involved using induced pluripotent stem cells derived from healthy donors and transforming them into macrophages. These were then exposed to 24 different stimuli mimicking infection and inflammation, and the gene expression profiles assessed six and 24 hours later, to see which genes were turned on or off in response.
Immunoprecise Antibodies Ltd. is advancing its universal dengue vaccine program. Following the discovery and validation of a uniquely conserved dengue epitope using its Lensai platform, the company is now advancing to preclinical manufacturing for in vivo testing and virus neutralization analysis.
Partly focused on delivery challenges that have limited the reach of RNA medicines, new biotech company Axelyf Inc. closed a $2.6 million seed round to support development of its AXL technology and to advance lead autoimmune candidate AXL-003.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration another significant victory in its attempts to defund NIH-sponsored research. In a 5-4 decision, the justices paused the June 16 order of U.S. District Judge William Young to restore funding for hundreds of canceled NIH research grants focusing on gender and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The funding had first been cut through a series of executive orders shortly after President Donald Trump resumed power in January.
Ennovathera Inc. has described compounds acting as non-receptor tyrosine-protein kinase TYK2 (JH2 domain) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, transplant rejection, inflammation, and endocrine, autoimmune and neurological disorders.