Chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) associated with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) are serious health problems in highly endemic areas. Investigators from the National Health Research Institutes have developed a protein-based recombinant vaccine, rHBx-rHBc149, for this unmet medical need.

Cancer researchers are increasingly turning to the microbiome to understand why some patients respond well to treatment while others face severe complications. Gut microbial communities shift during intensive therapies such as bone marrow transplantation, and those changes influence infection risk, immune recovery and long‑term survival. New advances in microbial sequencing and engineering redefine this community as a measurable clinical parameter that can be monitored, modeled, and even therapeutically reshaped to improve outcomes in oncology and other conditions.

Researchers from IRBM SpA described the discovery and preclinical profile of IRBM-Z-2, a Zika virus NS2B-NS3 protease inhibitor.

Telum Therapeutics SL has completed an €18 million (US$24 million) series A financing to advance its lead program targeting hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia caused by the multidrug-resistant gram-negative pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii.

Smartbax GmbH has announced the successful second closing of its pre-series A financing round for a total of €6.3 million (US$7.2 million) as it advances development of next-generation antibiotics against multidrug-resistant bacteria.

It is known that bacterial cells exchange biological matter, but it is not clear whether bacteria can exchange functional proteins. In a recent paper published in Science on June 25, 2026, researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and their collaborators investigated horizontal protein transfer between bacteria, specifically between protein-donor Escherichia coli and protein-receiving E. coli that could turn into persister cells and tolerate lethal antibiotic doses or a stressful environment.

RQ Biotechnology Ltd. has completed an oversubscribed $115 million (£85.5 million) series A financing to advance its long-acting antibody therapeutics for the prevention of influenza in high-risk and immunocompromised populations.