A designed chimeric virus induced broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) against the macaque equivalent of HIV. The strategy works in two steps: first it uses an envelope protein (Env) with a mutation that reduces the glycan shield that makes it invisible to the immune system, and then it exposes the part of the protein most likely to generate these antibodies capable of blocking many variants of the virus. The macaques developed potent and diverse antibodies with this approach, which pave the way for the development of an HIV-1 vaccine. Read More

News of eight infections and three deaths so far due to an emerging zoonotic virus has brought back unhappy memories of the early days of SARS-CoV-2. At a press conference on Thursday, officials from the WHO did their best to calm the public’s fears that the MV Hondius, the ship currently heading to the Canary Islands with its remaining passengers plus assorted medical, WHO and European Center for Disease Prevention and Control staff, is the 2026 version of the Diamond Princess. Read More

Arrivent Biopharma Inc. has obtained IND clearance from the FDA for ARR-002 (AV-P138-ADC), an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) with an initial focus in ovarian and endometrial cancers and broader therapeutic potential across solid tumors. A phase I trial is expected to open in the second half of the year. Read More

Parcelbio has raised $13 million in seed financing to continue its development of a new class of potent and durable mRNA medicines. The financing will support development of Parcelbio’s proprietary APEXm (Amplified and Prolonged EXpression mRNA) platform and advance its pipeline, including its lead in vivo CAR T program for autoimmune disease. Read More

Harbour Biomed has gained IND clearance from the FDA for HBM-7004, enabling the initiation of a first-in-human phase I trial in subjects with advanced solid tumors. Read More

A group led by researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital established a scalable and reproducible model of paclitaxel-induced axon degeneration and neurotoxicity in human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived sensory neurons. Read More

Impact Therapeutics (Shanghai) Inc. has prepared and tested Wee1-like protein kinase (Wee1) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More

Conventional mouse models are not susceptible to hepatitis A virus (HAV) because murine adaptor protein MAVS is not efficiently cleaved by HAV protease precursors, so intact type I interferon (IFN) signaling blocks productive infection. However, IFN receptor knockout (KO) mice are susceptible to HAV infection and show hallmark features of the infection, having recently been identified as a potential disease model. Researchers from Genematrix Inc. aimed to determine whether nonclinical efficacy studies can be performed in small animal models. Read More

Treeline Biosciences Inc. has disclosed macrocyclic compounds acting as RAS inhibitors that are potentially useful for the treatment of pancreatic cancer (ductal adenocarcinoma) and melanoma. Read More

The University of California has identified proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) compounds comprising an E3 ubiquitin ligase Von Hippel-Lindau disease tumor suppressor (VHL)-binding moiety coupled to cAMP-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit α (PRKACA) targeting moiety through a linker. Read More

Biolojic Design Ltd. has reported preclinical data for its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) BD-200, developed using an AI-guided antibody engineering platform named Multibody. Read More

Hangzhou Bio Sincerity Pharma-Tech Co. Ltd. has reported crylamide compounds acting as exportin-1 (CRM1; XPO1) receptor antagonists found to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More

Shanghai Ailux Biotechnology Co. Ltd. has patented new antibody-drug conjugates consisting of an antibody targeting fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 isoform 2 (FGFR2; FGFR2b) covalently linked to a cytotoxic drug intended for use in the treatment of cancer. Read More

Researchers from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. detailed the preclinical characterization of TAK-188, a first-in-class anti-CCR8 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) designed to selectively target CCR8+ Tregs, alleviating immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment. Read More