Peptigrowth Inc. and Orizuru Therapeutics Inc. have entered into a joint development agreement to create a novel synthetic peptide that will replace a recombinant growth factor used in the manufacturing of a regenerative medicine product being developed by Orizuru.

Obesity is known to be associated with metabolic and cardiovascular disorders such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, or heart failure, all presenting a chronic low-grade inflammatory component. The activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway appears to be linked to the development of cardio-metabolic diseases.

Ferronova Pty Ltd. has signed a licensing agreement with the Purdue Research Foundation (PRF) for the application of PRF's fibroblast activation protein (FAP) inhibitor in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and MRI-guided therapies.

Xnk Therapeutics AB has entered into a research collaboration with the Karolinska University Hospital to evaluate the suitability of the company's preclinical autologous natural killer (NK) cell therapy candidate XNK-02 as a novel therapy for treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

New treatment options are needed for the prevention of relapse to alcohol use, the major problem in the treatment of alcohol dependence in humans. The neuropeptide relaxin-3/RXFP3 plays a relevant role in the motivation for the reward process and is considered a possible therapeutic target in addictive behaviors.

Abata Therapeutics Inc. has announced its second development candidate, ABA-201, which has the potential to be a disease-modifying Treg cell therapy for patients with type 1 diabetes who have remaining β cell function. Abata expects to begin clinical studies in 2025.

Research led by investigators at Ghent University in Belgium showed dysregulation of the complement part of the immune system, regulated by the pro-inflammatory protein interleukin (IL)-6, is a key driver of severe COVID-19 and a good target for drugs to treat the effects of the disease. Writing in the Aug. 23, 2023, issue of Science Translational Medicine, the researchers also described a cellular map of the alterations seen in the complement system during COVID-19 related respiratory deterioration for use in future research.