A research team led by Domagoj Cikes at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA) and Josef Penninger at the University of British Columbia has discovered the critical role of the enzyme phosphate cytidylyltransferase 2 (PCYT2) in muscle health. Their findings appeared in the March 20, 2023, online edition of Nature Metabolism. Read More
A modification of the CRISPR technique has made it possible to restore vision in mouse models with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Scientists at the Institute of Visual Neuroscience and Stem Cell Engineering of Wuhan University of Science and Technology developed a new gene-editing tool called PE(SpRY) to edit in vivo a mutation of enzyme phosphodiesterase 6B (PDE6β) and return its function. Read More
A research group at Washington University School of Medicine has released animal data showing restriction of tumor growth with a novel mRNA therapeutic delivered in nanoparticles based on Altamira Therapeutics Ltd.’s Semaphore delivery platform. Read More
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by failure of motor neurons that lead to paralysis. To date, no treatment exists for ALS that focuses on improving neuromuscular transmission, which would improve quality of life for ALS patients. Read More
Shuttle Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. has entered a research agreement with Georgetown University focused on the evaluation of the company's lead histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) inhibitor candidate, SP-2-225, evaluating the antitumor effect of the combination of SP-2-225 and radiation therapy in a syngeneic breast cancer model. Read More
Current prophylactic and therapeutic approaches for SARS-CoV-2 are effective, but the need for new approaches with broad activity makes virus-host interactions an essential piece to look at. Read More
Janssen Pharmaceutica NV has disclosed 5-oxo-1,2,3,5,8,8a-hexahydroindolizine-3-carboxamide derivatives acting as coagulation factor XIa and plasma kallikrein (KLKB1) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of thromboembolism, diabetes, diabetic retinopathy, septic shock, hereditary angioedema, arthritis, nephropathy and inflammatory disorders, among others. Read More
Oxford Drug Design Ltd. has been engaged by Phoremost Ltd. to accelerate a targeted protein degradation discovery program that seeks to identify new E3 ligase-based therapeutic strategies to treat cancer. Read More
Kita-Kyushu lung cancer antigen-1 (KK-LC-1) is a member of the cancer/testis antigens (CTAs) protein family, which is family of proteins that are mainly expressed in tumors and testicular tissue, but they display low to no expression in other normal tissues. Read More
Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has entered into a worldwide drug discovery collaboration agreement with Macomics Ltd. to develop new immuno-oncology antibody drugs against a novel macrophage target of interest in cancer. Read More
Courage Therapeutics Inc. and University of Michigan have synthesized peptides acting as melanocortin MC4 receptor (MC4R) agonists and/or MC3 receptor (MC3R) antagonist/partial agonists reported to be useful for the treatment of arthritis, depression, diabetes, hypertension, renal disorders and sleep apnea. Read More
Acetaminophen (APAP) is a very common nonprescription analgesic, harmless at low doses, that can cause acute liver injury and even death from acute liver failure when overdosed. The temporal course of acetaminophen overdose-induced liver injury (AILI) can be depicted in two stages – injury and recovery. Read More
UT-Battelle LLC has divulged covalent nonstructural protein 3 (nsp3; PLpro) (SARS-CoV) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of coronavirus acute respiratory syndrome. Read More
Biohaven Ltd. has acquired global rights, excluding China regions, from Hangzhou Highlightll Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. for TLL-041, now designated BHV-8000, an oral, brain-penetrant, highly selective, dual TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor, for neurological disorders. Read More
Flare Therapeutics Inc. has announced a US$123 million series B financing to support its work targeting novel transcription factors for cancer and other diseases. Read More
Shanghai Aryl Pharmtech Co. Ltd. and Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. have described heterocyclic derivatives acting as GTPase KRAS (G12D mutant) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More
Additional early-stage research and drug discovery news in brief, from: 280Bio, Evolveimmune Therapeutics, Imunon, Pepgen, Psycheceutical Bioscience. Read More