Viage Therapeutics Inc. – formerly Digestome Therapeutics Inc. – on July 26 unveiled positive data from its phase I study on DGX-001 for mild cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s (PD). The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study demonstrated changes in brain activity according to quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) measurements in 68 healthy volunteers dosed with single ascending and multiple ascending doses.

The identification of new targets in diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s – conditions which continue to have significant unmet needs – has taken a small step forward as one company, Violet Therapeutics Inc., plans to put $10.6 million in seed funding toward building out a pipeline based on technologies that elucidate the way cells interact amongst one another.

Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. has released data supporting the memory- and cognition-enhancing effects of TNX-4300 (estianeptine), the single (S)-isomer of tianeptine in preclinical development for depression, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Researchers based at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have discovered that a lack of contact between mitochondria and lysosomes in the cells of patients with a genetic form of Parkinson’s disease likely contributed to their symptoms.

Nysnobio Inc. has received a grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) to assist the advancement of the company’s lead parkin gene replacement therapy candidate, NB-001. The funding will support product manufacturing to enable IND safety studies in preparation for clinical trials evaluating NB-001 in Parkinson’s disease patients with biallelic loss-of-function mutations in the parkin gene, or parkin-PD.

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. has offered an update on its development pipeline programs. Macimorelin acetate (AEZS-130), a ghrelin agonist approved and commercialized as a test for adult growth hormone deficiency, is in preclinical development for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The company has now successfully developed an alternative formulation suitable for use in ALS.

Autophagy is an essential cellular pathway where intracellular components are degraded or...