The big advantage of cell culture to model diseases is its throughput. “You can play the disease over and over again in the dish,” Clive Svendsen told the audience at the International Society of Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Annual Meeting held in Hamburg last week. That high throughput, however, is not particularly useful if the cell lines themselves do not accurately model the disease. Cancer cell lines are used in many cell culture experiments far beyond cancer for their ability to grow. But they are “highly abnormal,” Bill Skarnes told the audience at an innovation showcase, as well as quite unstable. “I don’t think the [HEK-293] cell line is the same in your lab as it is in the lab next door,” Skarnes said.

Beijing DP Technology Co. Ltd. has nominated DPT-0415, a novel small molecule targeting lipoprotein‐associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), as a preclinical candidate for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic macular edema (DME).

Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch have developed a novel tau immunotherapy delivered via intranasal route, able to enter the brain, and recognize and successfully clear tau aggregates in mouse models of tauopathy. Aberrant tau aggregates cause neurodegenerative symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Although these conditions present phenotypic differences, the fact of sharing tau deposits as a major hallmark tags them as tauopathies.

Beijing DP Technology Co. Ltd. has nominated DPT-0415, a novel small molecule targeting lipoprotein‐associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), as a preclinical candidate for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic macular edema (DME).

Less than a month after the U.S. FDA’s Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee handed down a unanimous vote in favor of Eli Lilly and Co.’s Alzheimer’s disease candidate (AD), donanemab, the agency approved the drug as a once-monthly injection for adults with early symptomatic disease. Branded Kisunla, the beta-amyloid antagonist marks the second approved AD drug that has demonstrated in clinical trials an ability to slow cognitive decline, going up against Leqembi (lecanemab) from Biogen Inc. and Eisai Co. Ltd., which won full approval in July 2023, only six months after nabbing an accelerated nod.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition in which amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles accumulate in the brain. In addition to genetic factors, DNA damage and epigenetic alterations also play a key role in the pathogenesis and progression of this disease, altering gene expression, the functioning and maintenance of brain cells. DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and chromatin accessibility are two hallmarks of AD whose study could reveal new ways of approaching this disease.

Following a data-cleaning delay and mixed results in Alzheimer’s disease, Annovis Bio Inc. reported phase III Parkinson’s disease data showing treatment with buntanetap stops cognitive decline and improves motor and other functions, including postural instability and gait difficulty, meeting all primary and secondary endpoints.

“Do dreams predict the future?” Abidemi Otaiku asked his audience at the 10th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology, currently being held in Helsinki. Most audience members, being hard-boiled scientists, did not believe they did. But Otaiku, whose work won the award for best clinical abstract at the conference, presented data indicating that in some cases, they can.

Alzheon Inc. has raised $100 million in a series E financing round to push its oral drug candidate for early Alzheimer’s disease (AD), ALZ-801 (valiltramiprosate), through a late-stage, Apolloe4 study.