The spread of drug-resistant bacteria is a global health concern and could once again become a leading cause of mortality. The World Health Organization has flagged carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB), which has a mortality rate of 25%-60%, as a top priority pathogen requiring innovative therapies for its management. Researchers from the HUN-REN Biological Research Centre in Hungary have published a paper in Cell in which they describe designing and developing phage cocktails that target the most prevalent CRAB strains within specific geographic regions by using phylogeographic analysis and mapping the pathogen’s genetic diversity. Read More
Spanish VC firm Asabys Partners has closed its second fund at €180 million (US$201.3 million), to be invested in seed to series B rounds in 12 to 15 biotech, med-tech and digital health companies. Read More
Researchers from Paragon Therapeutics Inc. presented the preclinical characterization of ORKA-001 (PR-035), a novel half-life extended monoclonal antibody targeting the p19 subunit of IL-23, designed to treat chronic skin disorders such as plaque psoriasis. Read More
Precision Biosciences Inc. has submitted its first clinical trial applications (CTAs) to initiate a phase I study evaluating PBGENE-HBV, an in vivo gene editing program designed to potentially cure chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV). Read More
Tessellate Bio BV has announced it is collaborating with CMRI (Children’s Medical Research Institute) and Omico (Australian Genomic Cancer Medicine Centre) to advance the understanding of the prevalence of alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) across tumor types and the genetic factors involved. Read More
Researchers from Kyverna Therapeutics Inc. presented preclinical data for KYV-101, a first-in-class, fully human autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy being developed for the treatment of patients with B-cell-driven neurologic autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis. Read More
In work at Shanghai Curegene Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., synthesis and optimization of a series of SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease (3CLpro, Mpro) inhibitors led to the identification of compounds [I], [II] and [III] as lead candidates suitable for further evaluation, based on their enzymatic IC50s (14, 12 and 8.6 nM, respectively), cellular EC50s (36, 26 and 52 nM, respectively) and human liver microsome (HLM) stability. Read More
Harbin Medisan Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has synthesized PPARδ agonists reported to be useful for the treatment of fibrosis, neurodegeneration, inflammation, cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, autoimmune and metabolic disorders. Read More
After a team at the Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron found that histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) has a role in the chronic inflammatory response in the central nervous system in models of traumatic brain injury, they investigated its role in autoimmune demyelination. Read More
Atopic dermatitis is a systemic inflammatory disorder where both innate immune cells such as dendritic cells (DCs) and adaptive immune cells, such as B and T cells, contribute to cutaneous inflammation. B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA), highly expressed in mature DCs, is crucial to modulate the activity of all immune cells and acts as a co-inhibitory checkpoint receptor. Read More
Shanghai Qilu Pharmaceutical Research and Development Centre Ltd. has identified proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) comprising an E3 ubiquitin ligase cereblon (CRBN)-binding moiety coupled to an interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 4 (IRAK-4)-targeting moiety through a linker. Read More
Scientists at Inventisbio Co. Ltd. and Inventisbio LLC have divulged phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase α (PI3Kα) (E545K mutant) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, PIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum and congenital lipomatous overgrowth, vascular malformations, epidermal naevi and skeletal abnormalities (CLOVES syndrome). Read More
MYC is a transcription factor that plays relevant roles in cellular processes such as glycolysis, development, cell differentiation or proliferation. Recent research has associated the transcriptional activity of MYC to the activation of T cells in multiple sclerosis. Read More
Haihe Biopharma Co. Ltd. has described androgen receptor antagonists reported to be useful for the treatment of acne, androgenic alopecia, breast and prostate cancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia, hidradenitis suppurativa, hirsutism and prostatitis. Read More
