2021 was the year Aduhelm (aducanumab, Biogen Inc.) was approved as the first amyloid-β-busting drug for Alzheimer’s disease. And in 2022, there was as much need for an effective AD drug as ever. Aduhelm’s commercial fate was sealed with the decision of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that the drug would only be reimbursed in clinical trials approved by the CMS or the NIH. Read More
Legochem Bioscience Inc. (LCB) has entered into a research collaboration and license agreement with Amgen Inc., granting Amgen rights to research, develop and commercialize antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) directed against up to 5 targets selected by Amgen based on LCB’s proprietary Conjuall ADC technology. Read More
Mindrank Ltd. has received clearance of its IND application by the FDA for MDR-001, a small-molecule glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, which was discovered using the company’s proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) platform, Molecule Pro. Read More
Researchers from Taipei Medical University presented the discovery of novel store-operated calcium channel (SOC) inhibitors as potential anticancer candidates. Synthesis and optimization of a series of difluorobenzamide derivatives led to the discovery of MPT-0M004 as the lead candidate with promising SOC inhibitory activity. In vitro, both migration and invasion of colorectal cancer cells were significantly suppressed after 48 hours of treatment with MPT-0M004, with the growth inhibitory effect of the compound being similar to that seen for the reference SOC inhibitor. Read More
An Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. patent describes pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine lysophosphatidic acid receptor 2 (LPAR2; EDG4) antagonists reported to be useful for the treatment of atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, eczema, scleroderma and pruritus, among others. Read More
Approximately 20,000 patients diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphomas died in 2022 despite current treatments; 30-40% of these cases involved diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Monoallelic mutations in histone acetyltransferases (HATs) occur in over 39% of germinal center DLBCLs. Activation of intact wild-type alleles offers an opportunity to overcome the mutated allele. Read More
Several recent patents from Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. have disclosed sodium channel protein type 10 subunit α (SCN10A; Nav1.8) blockers reported to be useful for the treatment of pain, arrhythmia, Charcot-Marie-tooth disease, cough, urinary incontinence and multiple sclerosis. Read More
Researchers from Kbluebio Inc. and affiliated organizations recently reported the discovery and preclinical evaluation of a novel prohibitin-2 (PHB2) ligand as a potential candidate for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM). Read More
Eleven vaccines have now been approved by the World Health Organization for preventing COVID-19, but all exhibit drastically reduced activities after 6 months. Unlike vaccines that express only the spike protein as the immunogen, live attenuated vaccines have the potential to confer a broader and more durable protection. Read More
Research at Silexon Biotech Co. Ltd. has led to the identification of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase kinase 1 (MAP4K1; HPK1; MEKKK1) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and HIV infections. Read More
Sichuan Kelun-Biotech Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has developed antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) consisting of 19F6_Hu35V1 antibody covalently linked to a cytotoxic drug through a linker. Read More
Trastuzumab deruxtecan (DS-8201a) is an antibody-drug conjugate used for the treatment of metastatic HER2+ breast cancer that is refractory to anti-HER2 therapy such as T-DM1, however, there is a lack of knowledge on acquired or innate resistance to the drug. Read More
