Bacterial resistance remains one of the biggest obstacles to antibiotic efficacy and spurs the constant search for next-generation antimicrobials. Oxacins can kill bacteria by inhibiting the activity of DNA gyrase. As potential next-generation oxacin-like drugs, researchers at Southwest University and collaborators have developed thiazolylcyanovinyl benzopyridone acids, among which the ethyl compound [I] turned out to be effective at killing several gram-negative and -positive bacterial strains in vitro as well as Klebsiella pneumonia in biofilms. It also eliminated wound infection in mice, without causing obvious off-target toxicity.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a rapidly progressing lung disease with high unmet needs and characterized by an excess in matrix deposition that leads to severe decline in lung functioning, where arginase expression and arginine metabolism seem to be involved and could be a promising target. Astrazeneca has presented data regarding their arginase inhibitor, AZD-8965, for the potential treatment of IPF.

Vitiligo is caused by autoreactive CD8+ T cells that react against skin melanocytes, where IL-15 has been shown to activate these T cells. Innovent Biologics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. recently presented data on their monoclonal antibody (mAb) – IBI-3013 – that targets IL-15. IBI-3013 was evaluated in vitro in immune cell expansion and CD8 T-cell activation assays, as well as in vivo in a skin inflammation model and in a graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) model.

Cartography Biosciences Inc. has closed a $67 million series B financing to support its pipeline of T-cell engaging bispecific and multispecific antibody therapeutics that target novel and highly specific tumor antigens.

Cirrus Therapeutics Inc. has closed an $11 million seed financing to advance its pipeline of gene and cell therapies designed to preserve sight and extend ocular healthspan in patients with chronic blinding diseases.

Genetic mutations are the primary cause of most rare diseases. Although each condition affects a small fraction of the population, the global impact is significant, with an estimated 300 million individuals affected worldwide. A large proportion of pathogenic missense variants – estimated at 40%-60% – cause rare diseases by impairing protein stability. This underscores protein restoration as a promising therapeutic strategy.

Pharma companies are collaborating to boost the power of artificial intelligence (AI) in drug discovery by allowing access to proprietary structural data to train a large language model. Each of the partners is contributing data from several thousand experimentally determined protein:ligand interactions, creating one of the most diverse datasets and the richest chemistry assembled to date for model training.