During the IDWeek conference held in Boston earlier this month, presentations on Climate Change were spread throughout the program. Some talks were on the direct effects of weather on infectious agents. Others discussed what healthcare workers could do to mitigate the effects of climate change, from antibiotic stewardship to decarbonization of day to day operations.
One-year results from the CLASP IID trial and registry showed outstanding results in patients with significant symptomatic degenerative mitral regurgitation (DMR) for Pascal, Edwards Lifesciences Corp.’s transcatheter-edge-to-edge repair (TEER) system, in a presentation at the 2023 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting in San Francisco hosted by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation.
At the 30th Annual Congress of the European Society for Gene and Cell Therapy in Brussels this week, researchers presented both preclinical and clinical strategies for applying gene therapy to a functional HIV cure. At a Wednesday session on Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, Alessio Nahmad, of Tabby Therapeutics Ltd., described using B cells edited to express broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) 3BNC117 to deliver high titers of antibodies in mice.
Despite its promising therapeutic efficacy in patients with narcolepsy type 1, the previously reported orally available orexin OX2 receptor (OX2R) agonist TAK-994 has also demonstrated off-target liver toxicity. Now, researchers from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. have reported the discovery and early evaluation of a new OX2R agonist, TAK-861, being developed for the treatment of narcolepsy and other hypersomnia disorders.
Researchers from Exscientia plc presented preclinical data for the novel reversible LSD1 inhibitor EXS-74539, being developed as a monotherapy or in combination with standard of care for the treatment of oncology and hematology indications including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and small-cell lung cancer.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a disorder characterized by progressive degeneration of muscles, resulting in muscle loss, mobility limitations and lately, mortal risk. DMD is caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene (DMD) and about 80% of these are suitable for exon skipping, obtaining a functional dystrophin protein.
Left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion procedures are designed to reduce the risk of thromboembolism in patients who have non-valvular atrial fibrillation, but a study presented at the 2023 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics annual meeting in San Francisco demonstrated that about half of patients continue to have LAA leaks – and potentially the risk of dangerous blood clots and stroke – a year after the procedure.
The EU approved the first drug-coated balloon for treatment of in-stent restenosis nearly a decade ago, but U.S. physicians continue to have their hands tied in treating the fairly common problem. Results from Boston Scientific Corp.’s investigational device exemption trial for its Agent paclitaxel-coated balloon presented in San Francisco at Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics could finally put the tool in the hands of cardiologists. The device demonstrated a nearly 50% reduction in the risk of target lesion revascularization and target vessel myocardial infarction compared to conventional balloon angioplasty.
Researchers from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG presented the discovery and preclinical characterization of BI-3706674, a potent and orally available small-molecule inhibitor of the KRAS oncogene, targeting both KRAS-mutant and KRAS wild-type amplified (WTamp) cancers.