South Korea is moving ahead with its biggest reform of drug review and pricing in more than a decade, reflecting a wider shift across Asian markets to reward innovation and tighten controls on generics.

The majority of epilepsies are developmental disorders that start in childhood. But there is a large minority that starts in late adulthood. And increasingly, researchers are suspecting that such epilepsies share mechanisms with dementia. Summarizing the highlights of epilepsy research presented at the recent Annual Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN), Aleksandar Ristic told his audience that the biggest epilepsy story out of the Congress was “not a drug, but it was a reframing.”

Artan Biotechnologies LLC has closed a $1 million seed round to support progression of the company’s proprietary mutation-specific codon suppression platform toward first-in-human development.

Artan Biotechnologies LLC has completed a $200,000 seed raise to fund preclinical advancement of the company’s proprietary engineered suppressor platform, which targets nonsense mutations.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. announced after South Korean market hours May 21 that it gained successive rights to Turn Biotechnologies Inc.’s mRNA-based cellular rejuvenation platform from Hanall Biopharma Co. Ltd.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. announced after South Korean market hours May 21 that it gained successive rights to Turn Biotechnologies Inc.’s mRNA-based cellular rejuvenation platform from Hanall Biopharma Co. Ltd.

WAVES, an algorithm designed to extract menstrual-cycle metrics from physiological signals such as basal body temperature, which oscillates with sex hormones, shows how different parameters change with age and helps determine whether each person maintains a stable individual pattern or personal footprint. A study based on data from 5,674 cycles from 753 women demonstrates through this tool that age is associated with higher temperatures, shorter cycles, and greater irregularity. In addition, several metrics show within-person stability, suggesting they could serve as personalized health markers.

Armed with a fully subscribed $80 million series D round, Life Biosciences Inc. is making progress with its lead candidate, ER-100, which is in phase I trials testing its theory on reversing the biological effects of aging via partial epigenetic reprogramming.

Werner syndrome results from biallelic mutations in the WRN gene on chromosome 8, leading to accelerated aging symptoms. Researchers at Sumitomo Pharma Co. Ltd. have reported the development and characterization of WRN-108, a splice-switching antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) designed to induce exon 27 skipping in WRN transcripts carrying the c.3139-1G>C mutation.