Fat cells from patients who had lost weight after bariatric surgery, as well as from animals who had gained and then lost weight, were transcriptionally distinct from cells that had not experienced such weight changes at the organism level. In the animal studies, those transcriptional changes were due to epigenetic changes. The findings, which were published online in Nature on Nov. 18, 2024, are a possible molecular-level explanation for the short-term nature of most weight loss. Read More
Enanta Pharmaceuticals Inc. has released preclinical pharmacokinetics (PK) data for EDP-514, a potent and selective class II core assembly modulator in phase I development for the oral treatment of hepatitis B. Read More
Protagonist Therapeutics Inc. has selected PN-881, an oral peptide interleukin-17 (IL-17) antagonist, as a development candidate for the treatment of immune-mediated skin diseases. Read More
Startup company Pep2tango Therapeutics Inc., unveiled with backing by Versant Ventures, is advancing unimolecular multireceptor peptide agonists that target GLP-1, GIP, amylin and calcitonin receptors. Read More
Transposon Therapeutics Inc. has acquired a portfolio of novel nucleoside analogues from Primefour Therapeutics Inc. for the targeted treatment of pancreatic cancer, certain other solid tumors and hematologic cancers. Read More
Telomir Pharmaceuticals Inc. has reported preclinical results from evaluation of Telomir-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans, a well-established model for aging studies. Telomir-1 is a novel small molecule designed to lengthen the DNA’s protective telomere caps, which are crucial in the aging process. Read More
Autoimmunity Biosolutions has closed a seed financing to support its work advancing a next-generation, immuno-corrective therapy for autoimmune diseases. The company’s approach targets a branch of the interleukin-7 (IL-7)/interleukin-7 receptor (IL-7R) pathway controlled by the soluble IL-7R (sIL-7R), a critical amplifier of autoimmune reactions. Read More
Urocortin-2 (UCN2) is a selective corticotropin-releasing factor CRF2 receptor (CRFR2) agonist, which has been previously shown to reduce fat mass while promoting muscle hypertrophy. Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. presented the discovery and preclinical characterization of a novel CRFR2-selective UCN2 analogue, HM-17321, being developed for the treatment of obesity. Read More
Chiome Bioscience Inc. and Asahi Kasei Pharma Corp. have entered into an exclusive license agreement to develop and commercialize Chiome’s humanized anti-CX3CR1 antibody, PFKR, currently in the preclinical stage. Read More
Bright Biologics LLC reported the discovery and preclinical evaluation of BB-203, an anti-PD-L1/anti-VEGF bispecific antibody (Ab) being developed for the treatment of cancer. Read More
Mutations in the PIK3CA gene are present in about 4% to 36% of cancers such as breast, ovarian, endometrial and colorectal cancer, among others. Read More
Additional early-stage research and drug discovery news in brief, from: Cereno Scientific, Gri Bio, Palisade Bio, Panavance Therapeutics, Zyversa Therapeutics. Read More
