Singapore’s Communicable Diseases Agency on May 7 said that it isolated two residents for hantavirus testing after the individuals disembarked from an Atlantic cruise ship on May 2 and May 6, respectively. The measure comes in response to the cluster of cases from the cruise ship, MV Hondius, that has resulted in three deaths so far.

A new mRNA and lipid nanoparticle (mRNA-LNP) platform could selectively reprogram in vivo cytotoxic effector T cells (Teff), the cells responsible for eliminating infected or tumor cells. To achieve this, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania conjugated LNPs with fractalkine, a molecule that binds to the CX3CR1 receptor, which is a marker of Teff cells. Using this strategy, the researchers delivered an mRNA encoding new proteins such as IL‑2 or human CD62 L‑selectin, opening the door to temporarily reprogramming these cells within the body, both in the blood and in lymphoid tissue, where they reside and become activated.

Mobia Medical Inc. began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker MOBI on May 8. The company priced its IPO at the midpoint of its proposed $14 to $16 range, selling 10 million shares at $15 each and raising approximately $150 million. The stock closed at $11.75 its first day of trading, down 21.7%.

Scarlet Therapeutics Ltd. has demonstrated its manufactured red blood cells (RBCs) act in the same way as their natural counterparts in vivo, opening the way for the cells to be used as drug delivery vehicles and raising the possibility they could replace conventional blood transfusions. To build on this, Scarlet has closed a $4 million seed round to work on the first clinical application, in which RBCs loaded with therapeutic proteins will be used to treat rare metabolic diseases.

Raising $279 million in an IPO and another $25 million in a concurrent private placement, Odyssey Therapeutics Inc. is advancing its lead phase II asset, OD-001, in ulcerative colitis, with plans to bring its SLC15A4 program into the clinic for lupus.

Climb Bio Inc. outlined May 5 an enticing data spill ahead this year with Fc-enhanced monoclonal antibody budoprutug (budo) in autoimmune diseases. Mizuho analyst Joseph Catanzaro appreciated in his report Wellesley Hills, Mass.-based Climb’s “conviction that CD19 represents a best-in-class pan-B-cell depletion target across antibody-mediated autoimmune diseases – a relative white space for conventional mAbs.”