Aberrant NLRP3 inflammasome activation is at the root of a wide number of conditions, from heart, gastrointestinal, kidney or liver disorders to neuroinflammatory diseases such as Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis. Researchers from Nodthera Ltd. have reported on NT-0796, an NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor with an in vivo brain penetration profile.
Celloram Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the Seoul, South Korea-based Medpacto Inc., signed a €160 million (US$175.88 million) licensing deal with Genfit SA to develop Celloram’s inflammasome inhibitor, CLM-022, for liver disease.
Nodthera Ltd. claims to be first to demonstrate it is possible to modulate the NLRP3 inflammasome in the brain, after showing there were reductions in inflammatory and disease-specific biomarkers in blood and cerebrospinal fluid after seven days of daily administration of its lead product, NT-0796, an oral NLRP3 inhibitor.
LONDON – Facing down the pandemic, U.K. biopharma had a record summer, raising just over £1 billion (US$1.3 billion) from June to August. That was up from £585 million in the second quarter of 2020, and brings the amount raised in the first nine months to £1.9 billion, putting 2020 on target to beat the 2018 record, when the annual total was £2.2 billion.
LONDON – Epidarex Capital announced the closure of its £102.1 million (US$126.3 million) third fund, which will invest in very early stage biomedical and med-tech spin-outs from high-class but “under-ventured” universities in regions of the country where venture money is in short supply.
LONDON – With results of its first phase I trial imminent, inflammasome specialist Nodthera Ltd. has raised $55 million in a series B round, providing funding for phase II proof-of-concept studies and to advance a second, brain-penetrant, compound to the clinic.