HMNC Brain Health GmbH has raised $50 million in the first close of a series B, enabling the company to prepare the way for phase III trials of its two lead programs.
Researchers from the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and their collaborators have identified adenosine as the driving force behind the rapid, fast-acting antidepressant effects of ketamine and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). “Our journey into this area of research began over a decade ago, around 2013, when the clinical world was buzzing with excitement about ketamine's remarkably rapid antidepressant effects,” Minmin Luo, co-senior author of the study, told BioWorld.
Researchers from the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and their collaborators have identified adenosine as the driving force behind the rapid, fast-acting antidepressant effects of ketamine and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). “Our journey into this area of research began over a decade ago, around 2013, when the clinical world was buzzing with excitement about ketamine's remarkably rapid antidepressant effects,” Minmin Luo, co-senior author of the study, told BioWorld.
On the heels of positive phase II results of its extended-release ketamine (R-107) in treatment-resistant depression, Douglas Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is gearing up to begin phase III trials of its ketamine treatment that is safe enough to take at home without clinical supervision.
On the heels of positive phase II results of its extended-release ketamine (R-107) in treatment-resistant depression, Douglas Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is gearing up to begin phase III trials of its ketamine treatment that is safe enough to take at home without clinical supervision.
While Nrx Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s oral antidepressant NRX-101 failed, producing a not statistically significant 33% reduction in suicidality along with a 70% reduction in the symptoms of akathisia, the company said it plans to forge ahead and conduct a registrational study.
Psychedelic drugs may exert their effects at intracellular serotonin receptors that serotonin itself, which does not cross cell membranes, cannot reach. The findings were published in the Feb. 17, 2023, issue of Science by researchers from the University of California at Davis.
Psychedelic drugs may exert their effects at intracellular serotonin receptors that serotonin itself, which does not cross cell membranes, cannot reach. The findings were published in the Feb. 17, 2023, issue of Science by researchers from the University of California at Davis. An accompanying editorial by Evan Hess and Todd Gould at the University of Maryland School of Medicine called them “a key achievement in the understanding of the mechanism of action of psychedelics” and “an important step forward for a rapidly expanding and much-needed field of study.”
By analyzing single-cell responses to ketamine administration, a multinational team of researchers has identified a potassium channel that contributes to the long duration of ketamine administration.
The market’s appetite for immunology candidates in chronic disease – in particular an oral interleukin-17 (IL-17) therapy for psoriasis – was proved by the upsized IPO pulled off by Dice Therapeutics Inc., and Tyra Biosciences Inc. benefited from the ongoing appetite in precision oncology in another, bigger-than-expected debut. Preclinical-stage Pasithea Therapeutics Inc. went public as well, albeit less spectacularly.
