Sandboxaq has received a $25 million research grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) LRRK2 Investigative Therapeutics Exchange (LITE) program to advance drug candidates for Parkinson's disease (PD).

Researchers from Purdue University and Eradivir Inc. presented a newly developed bispecific small molecule (zanDR) that bound and inhibited influenza neuraminidase on both free virus and virus-infected cells and also recruited the immune system. zanDR recruited naturally occurring anti-rhamnose and anti-dinitrophenyl (DNP) antibodies with rhamnose and DNP haptens.

Additional early-stage research and drug discovery news in brief, from: Alzecure Pharma, Altrubio, Mira Pharmaceuticals.

Dartmouth College has divulged fatty acid mimetics acting as free fatty acid FFA1 receptor (GPR40) and/or FFA4 receptor (GPR120) agonists reported to be useful for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Scientists at Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire de Lille, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National De La Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Institut Pasteur de Lille and Université de Lille have patented conjugates comprising siderophore moieties covalently linked to cargo moieties through a linker reported to be useful for the diagnosis and treatment of bacterial infections.

Biocells (Beijing) Biotech Co. Ltd. has identified aquaporin-4 (AQP4) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cerebral ischemia.

National Institutes of Pharmaceutical R&D Co. Ltd. has synthesized fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.

Baobab Aibio Co. Ltd. has disclosed transcriptional coactivator YAP1/transcriptional enhancer factor (TEAD) interaction inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.