Ironically, the first person to be diagnosed with what is now Alzheimer’s disease was missing its major risk factor. When she first began showing symptoms of dementia in 1901, Auguste Deter was not particularly old. Despite Deter’s case, aging is the largest risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s, by a large margin. But “geroscience has not been translated into drugs for Alzheimer’s disease,” Howard Fillit, Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation co-founder and chief scientific officer, told BioWorld. “We’re just starting to see that cross-fertilization now.” This first article of a three-part BioWorld series on Alzheimer’s disease looks at how a group of researchers, as well as some startups, are trying to approach Alzheimer’s via an aging lens. Read More
About 90% of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) develop severe bone disease, known as myeloma bone disease (MBD). This occurs due to the ability of MM cells to disrupt bone homeostasis, leading to excessive bone resorption. Some current treatments are effective for treating MBD, but they are associated with undesired adverse events. Read More
Repair Biotechnologies Inc. has reported new data showing that its lipid nanoparticle (LNP)/messenger RNA (mRNA) therapy rapidly reversed the progression of atherosclerosis in mouse models applicable to familial hypercholesterolemia as well as atherosclerosis in the broader population. Read More
FmlH is a bacterial adhesin of uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) that has been shown to be up-regulated during chronic UPEC infection. Washington University scientists recently disclosed the discovery and preclinical evaluation of novel FmlH lectin antagonists as potential candidates for the treatment of chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs) and kidney infections. Read More
A group of scientists at Shanghai Virogin Biotech Co. and Zhujiang Hospital in China designed a new mRNA vaccine that could prevent tumor formation associated with human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) and also reduce its size if used as a treatment. Read More
Tibet Haisco Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has disclosed integrin α4β7 (LPAM-1) and/or α4β1 (ITGA4; VLA-4) antagonists reported to be useful for the treatment of inflammatory disorders. Read More
Evaxion Biotech A/S and a collaborator have successfully concluded a series of large nonrodent animal infection studies testing antigens from Evaxion’s preclinical EVX-B1 vaccine candidate against Staphylococcus aureus. The EVX-B1 antigens were shown to significantly reduce disease burden. Read More
Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA has synthesized heterocyclic derivatives acting as Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of acute lung injury, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Read More
Blueprint Medicines Corp. recently disclosed the chemical structure of BLU-222, an oral, potent and highly selective inhibitor of the CDK2 kinase, being developed for the potential treatment of cancers with CCNE1 amplification and/or cyclin E overexpression, such as HR-positive HER2-negative breast cancer resistant to CDK4/6 inhibitor therapy. Read More
Alterome Therapeutics Inc. has divulged RAC-α serine/threonine-protein kinase (AKT1; PKBα) (E17K mutant) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More
The cyclin-dependent kinases CDK4 and CDK6 are crucial for cell cycle progression and, therefore, considered potential targets for cancer therapy. Read More
Exscientia plc has described NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of atherosclerosis, autoimmune disease, cancer, gout, inflammatory and neurological disorders, psoriasis and sickle cell disease. Read More