Epivario Inc. has been awarded a small business innovation research (SBIR) grant of $275,000 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to advance research toward the development of a novel epigenetic regulator as a treatment for opioid use disorder.

Addex Therapeutics Ltd. and Indivior plc have announced the selection of clinical candidates from their γ-aminobutyric acid subtype B (GABA-B) positive allosteric modulator (PAM) research collaboration.

Researchers from the Basque Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE) have demonstrated that inhibiting posttranslational modification of proteins with NEDD8, a process called neddylation, was able to prevent liver damage induced by acetaminophen overdose.

Scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered a new compound that increases the effects of naloxone, a drug that is used to treat overdoses from opioids like fentanyl, a narcotic that has triggered a public health crisis.

Brains from people with heroin use disorder have an increased number of hypocretin (Hcrt, orexin) neurons, which in turn are significantly smaller than in healthy controls. Meanwhile, human narcolepsy is known to present an average 90% loss of Hcrt neurons and no risk for drug abuse or overdose, even under methamphetamine or methylphenidate prescription, because of a greatly reduced reward activation of the ventral tegmental area (VTA).

Synedgen Inc. has completed IND-enabling studies for its lead candidate, MIIST-305, which is being developed for ulcerative colitis and as a medical countermeasure for gastrointestinal acute radiation syndrome. Within a year, Synedgen plans to file an IND application for MIIST-305 and initiate a phase I study to support both programs.

Acetaminophen overdose is still a major cause of liver toxicity (acute liver failure, ALI) in Western countries. It occurs by accumulation of the toxic metabolite NAPQI and the subsequent mitochondrial oxidative stress mediated by pJNK translocation to the mitochondria.