Arrakis Therapeutics Inc. has presented data on its RNA-targeted small-molecule (rSM) drug program for the treatment of myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). The company’s proprietary RNA‐specific chemical, biological and structural methods and RNA-directed medicinal chemistry enabled structure-based small-molecule drug design targeting the trinucleotide (CUG) repeat expansion in the mRNA of DMPK (myotonic dystrophy protein kinase) that drives DM1 pathology.
At the Breakthroughs in Muscular Dystrophy special meeting held in Chicago Nov. 19-20, 2024, and organized by the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT), multiple interventions at the RNA level were among the approaches that were presented to fight muscular dystrophies.
Since the isolation of the gene that causes Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), scientists have progressed in understanding the mechanisms that lead to muscular diseases that can be evident from the early stages of childhood. This has led to the development of diagnostics and therapeutics, some approved by the FDA.
The FDA has granted orphan drug designation to Modalis Therapeutics Corp.’s MDL-101, a novel epigenetic editing therapy being developed for the treatment of congenital muscular dystrophy type 1a (LAMA2-CMD), a severe, early-onset muscular dystrophy caused by the absence of the LAMA2 protein.
With a move into Lilly Gateway Labs in Boston’s Seaport District, privately held Tevard Biosciences Inc. is ramping up development of its transfer RNA (tRNA)-based therapies to cure everything from Dravet syndrome and other neurological conditions to cardiology indications and muscular dystrophies.
With a move into Lilly Gateway Labs in Boston’s Seaport District, privately held Tevard Biosciences Inc. is ramping up development of its transfer RNA (tRNA)-based therapies to cure everything from Dravet syndrome and other neurological conditions to cardiology indications and muscular dystrophies.
A tough spring has settled into a cruel summer for Fibrogen Inc. as the company has stumbled for the third time in two months. The newest problem is top-line results showing the phase III Zephyrus-1 study of pamrevlumab, a monoclonal antibody, missed its primary endpoint for treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
A research team led by Domagoj Cikes at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA) and Josef Penninger at the University of British Columbia has discovered the critical role of the enzyme phosphate cytidylyltransferase 2 (PCYT2) in muscle health. Their findings appeared in the March 20, 2023, online edition of Nature Metabolism.
A preliminary assessment of Avidity Biosciences Inc.’s phase I/II study of AOC-1001 in myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) showed the first-ever targeted delivery of RNA into muscle, an area previously untreatable with existing RNA therapeutics. Sarah Boyce, Avidity’s CEO, said in a Dec. 14 call that the antibody oligonucleotide conjugate’s data were unprecedented in the RNA space and in myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), labeling it a “revolutionary advancement.”
