Psychiatric animal models are a challenge by their nature. Whether a drug is blocking tumor growth in a rodent is easy enough to measure, although still hard to translate. But how does one figure out what a mouse is thinking? Actually, one doesn’t. There is “no way in heck I’m going to claim that I can model a thought disorder in rodents, so forget about that,” Bita Moghaddam told her audience at the opening keynote of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) annual conference this weekend. But other aspects of mental disorders, she argued, can be usefully modeled. Read More
Tyrosine kinase SYK (spleen tyrosine kinase), an enzyme involved in immune signaling, could play a key role in Alzheimer's disease (AD), multiple sclerosis (MS), and other neurodegenerative diseases, according to a study from the University of Virginia (UVA). SYK regulates the activity of microglia, preventing the accumulation of secretions associated with AD or MS produced in these pathologies. Read More
Nkgen Biotech Inc. has received IND clearance from the FDA for a phase I study of its cryopreserved off-the-shelf allogeneic blood-derived natural killer (NK) cell therapy SNK-02, to evaluate safety and tolerability in participants with pathologically confirmed solid tumors refractory to standard-of-care therapy. Read More
Impact Therapeutics Inc. has described five-membered heteroaryl-pyrimidine compounds acting as ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase 1 (USP1) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More
Medshine Discovery Inc. has disclosed new benzylaminoquinazoline derivatives acting as son of sevenless homolog 1 (SOS1)/GTPase KRAS (G12C mutant) interaction inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More
Hpvac SA has announced new data on its lead compound Hpvac-13 for the treatment and prevention of asthmatic attacks in an animal disease model of allergic asthma. Read More
Keythera (Suzhou) Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. has divulged new tyrosine-protein kinase JAK3 inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of alopecia areata, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosus, inflammation, allergy, cancer, metabolic diseases and transplant rejection, among other disorders. Read More
Suzhou Zelgen Biosciences Co. Ltd. has identified new compounds acting as GTPase KRAS (G12D mutant) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More
China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has cleared an IND application for a clinical trial of Shanghai Henlius Biotech Inc.'s HLX-60 for the treatment of solid tumors and lymphomas. Read More
Zymeworks Inc. has described new antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) consisting of a cysteine engineered full-length antibody (IgG type) targeting hepatocyte growth factor receptor (HGFR; MET) or folate receptor α (FOLR1; FR- α) covalently linked to a cytotoxic drug through a linker reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More
