Bristol Myers Squibb Co. has selected the first novel target for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that was identified and validated by Insitro Inc. under the companies’ 2020 collaboration agreement to discover new therapies for ALS. The selection triggers a milestone payment to Insitro.

Over the past few decades, drugs for Alzheimer’s disease development have predominantly focused on targeting β-amyloid but have shown limited clinical efficacy.

Biohaven Ltd.’s BHV-7000, a selective Kv7.2/7.3 potassium channel activator, is in phase II/III development for the treatment of focal epilepsy, generalized epilepsy, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. The company recently presented findings from preclinical testing assessing the candidate’s potential for the treatment of comorbidities associated with epilepsy.

Researchers form Shanghai Zhimeng Biopharma Inc. presented preclinical data for CB-03, a voltage-gated potassium channel-2/3 (Kv7.2/Kv7.3; KCNQ2/3) opener for the treatment of patients with refractory epilepsy and other neuropsychiatric disorders.

Investigators at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) have unraveled how and why the absence of a neuronal microexon in cytoplasmic polyadenylation element-binding 4 (CPEB4) gives rise to autism. In 2018, investigators from IRB, co-led by Raúl Méndez, identified the overt correlation between defects in CPEB4 and the onset of autism. However, the previous work did not provide the molecular mechanism explaining the correlation.