Researchers from Lanzhou University have described the discovery and preclinical evaluation of new multifunctional opioid agonists being developed as potential antinociceptive agents.

Encoded Therapeutics Inc. is advancing its lead gene therapy candidate, ETX-101, for the treatment of SCN1A+ Dravet syndrome into the clinic.

Armed with strong phase III safety data in Japanese patients, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Bridgebio Pharma Inc. is planning to file for Japan approval of its investigational drug acoramidis for a rare heart disorder.

Vision Care Group CEO Masayo Takahashi led the world's first clinical study of a retinal cell transplant derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) in 2014 when she led the Laboratory for Retinal Regeneration at Japan’s Riken Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research. In 2019, she founded Vision Care and subsequently founded two subsidiary companies dedicated to developing cell and gene therapies.

Travere Therapeutics Inc. inked a licensing deal with Tokyo-based Renalys Pharma Inc. to develop sparsentan in 13 Asian countries, becoming the latest news to heat up the immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) therapy space.

Seoul-based Genexine Inc. filed a BLA to gain domestic approval of its follow-on biologic for chronic kidney disease (CKD)-induced anemia, Efesa (efepoetin alfa, GX-E4), to South Korean health regulators on Jan. 25.

Be it viral, nucleic acid or protein vaccines, recent efforts that led to the first regulatory approvals for not only COVID-19, but also for malaria and respiratory syncytial virus, positioned infectious diseases in the headlines for much of the last four years.