Stipple Bio Inc. raised $100 million in a series A financing to support progression of the company’s lead drug, STP-100, an antibody-drug conjugate that binds an undisclosed target, and the company’s Pointillist discovery platform. The round was co-led by RA Capital, a16z Bio+Health and Nextech Invest. Existing investors, including Emerson Collective Investments (managed by Yosemite), GV (Google Ventures), Lola Capital Partners, GordonMD Global Investments and others, also participated in the round. Read More
Akari Therapeutics plc has established a strategic partnership with Wuxi XDC Cayman Inc. to accelerate the development of Akari’s novel PH1 payload. Akari’s lead program, AKTX-101, is initially targeting metastatic urothelial cancer. Read More
Canwell Pharma Inc. has obtained IND approval from the FDA for CAN-016, a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). The company will initiate a phase I study in patients with HER2-expressing solid tumors who have experienced disease progression following prior ADC therapies. Read More
In previous work, researchers from the University of Georgia developed liposomes loaded with antifungal drugs and coated with the carbohydrate recognition domains of mouse dectin-1 and/or dectin-2, called Dectisomes. The murine Dectisomes efficiently bound and killed pathogenic fungi in vitro and in mouse disease models. In a new study, the team aimed to explore how to potentially move Dectisomes into the clinic with human dectin orthologues. Read More
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder associated with increased oxidative stress. In this context, pharmacological activation of the Keap1-Nrf2 pathway, a key regulator of antioxidant and cytoprotective gene expression, has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy to re-establish redox homeostasis and reduce inflammation in AD. Researchers from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology reported the design and preclinical characterization of a novel Nrf2 activator in models of AD. Read More
Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. has reported new G protein-coupled receptor GPR88 agonists that are potentially useful for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia. Read More
Researchers from Mabqi SAS presented the preclinical profile of MQI-181, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) composed of a human anti-CD30 antibody (18D03) linked to the cytotoxic payload monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) via a cleavable MC-VC-PAB linker, with a drug-antibody ratio of 4. Read More
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has patented new macrocyclic sulfonamide orexin OX2 receptor agonists potentially useful for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, obesity, hypertension, retinopathy, multiple sclerosis, narcolepsy, hypersomnia and Parkinson's disease, among others. Read More
Suzhou Spring-Sea Bio-Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. has discovered new prodrugs of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) polypeptides acting as glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists reported to be useful for the treatment of diabetes, obesity, overweight, chronic kidney disease, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, neurodegeneration, diabetic nephropathy and cardiovascular disorders, among others. Read More
Kinase inhibitors have shown success in disease areas such as oncology, but their application in neurodegenerative diseases is still limited. This is mainly due to several challenges, such as the complexity of kinase networks, limited blood-brain barrier permeability and the lack of biomarkers. Read More
Emory University has divulged new prostaglandin EP2 receptor (PTGER2) antagonists potentially useful for the treatment of cancer, neuropathic pain, hypertension, inflammatory bowel disease, Alzheimer’s disease, atherosclerosis, asthma and glomerulonephritis, among others. Read More
Chengdu Kanghong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has disclosed new compounds targeting apolipoprotein A (ApoA; LPA) and acting as lipoprotein(a)-lowering agents that are potentially useful for the treatment of cardiovascular disorders. Read More
Liver receptor homolog-1 (LRH-1) is a nuclear receptor that promotes the transcription of genes encoding key steroidogenic enzymes, thereby facilitating de novo androgen biosynthesis within the prostate tumor microenvironment. Researchers from Qilu Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. reported the discovery and preclinical characterization of a series of novel LRH-1 antagonists. Read More
