Parasitic diseases caused by trypanosomatid protozoa have long been treated with traditional methods. However, the effectiveness of current treatments for leishmaniasis is limited. Some are toxic, or have been abandoned, such as in the cases of Chagas disease and human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), commonly known as sleeping sickness. Read More

IPSirius SAS, an early stage French immuno-oncology firm, hopes to obtain a clinical trial authorization from the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Products Agency next year, to enable it to move its novel therapeutic cancer vaccine into a first-in-human trial in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. Read More

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded Evotec SE’s subsidiary Just-Evotec Biologics Inc. a contract valued up to US$74 million for the rapid development of monoclonal antibody (MAb)-based drug product prototypes targeting orthopoxviruses. Read More

Aurora kinases, a group of serine/threonine protein family, comprise Aurora A, B and C members and are involved in the regulation of cell division and mitosis. Aurora A overexpression correlates with poor prognosis and is considered a therapeutic target for cancer treatments, although the clinical development of Aurora kinase inhibitors has been so far limited by excessive safety issues. Read More

Shionogi & Co. Ltd. has reported aromatic heterocyclic compounds acting as glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists and reported to be useful for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Read More

Dopamine D3 receptors play a relevant role in the CNS modulating neurological activity, and its dysfunction is linked to disorders such as schizophrenia, drug abuse or Parkinson’s disease. There is a need for blood-brain barrier (BBB)-penetrant D3 receptor radiotracers with high brain uptake to be used for neurological and neuropsychiatric disease diagnosis. Read More

A Pfizer Inc. patent describes new melanocortin MC4 receptor antagonists reported to be useful for the treatment of cachexia, anorexia and anorexia nervosa. Read More

Research at Betta Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. has led to the identification of new GTPase KRAS (G12D mutant) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More

Monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) is a key regulator of the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which has a critical neuromodulatory involvement in numerous functional mechanisms in the CNS. Based on this, MAGL is considered a promising therapeutic target in neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Researchers from ETH Zürich and affiliated organizations have recently presented their work on (R)-[18F]YH-134, a novel reversible radiotracer for imaging MAGL in the brain. Read More

Prothena Biosciences Ltd. has developed dual specificity tyrosine-phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Read More

Pretzel Therapeutics Inc. has patented heterocycle-containing compounds acting as Lon protease homolog, mitochondrial (LONP1) inhibitors. They are reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, aging, neurodegeneration and metabolic diseases. Read More

Researchers from Gat Therapeutics SL reported preclinical data for GTX-011, a first-in-class anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic drug candidate with properties mediated by the inhibition of the TGF-β pathway. Read More