At first blush, to say that depression occurs with other diseases may seem like belaboring the obvious. After all, to put it in the bluntest possible terms, it’s sad to be sick. But by looking more closely, it soon becomes clear that the association is stronger than that. The strongest association between depression and other diseases, Stefan Gold told the audience at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) annual conference in Vienna this week, is “not necessarily the most severe or most immediately life-threatening disorders… [it’s] across the spectrum."
Tyrosine kinase SYK (spleen tyrosine kinase), an enzyme involved in immune signaling, could play a key role in Alzheimer's disease (AD), multiple sclerosis (MS), and other neurodegenerative diseases, according to a study from the University of Virginia (UVA). SYK regulates the activity of microglia, preventing the accumulation of secretions associated with AD or MS produced in these pathologies.
Cabaletta Bio Inc. has announced CABA-201, a newly designed, fully human CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) containing a 4-1BB co-stimulatory domain.
Finding a vaccine that provides universal protection against seasonal influenza remains a public health priority. Although influenza neuraminidase (NA) undergoes slower antigenic changes than hemagglutinin (HA) and therefore constitutes a desirable vaccine target, NA standalone vaccination strategies present a limited breadth of NA immunity.
Failure of integrin inhibitors in clinical trials can be avoided by redesigning the chemical conformation of these proteins, as shown by a study led by Timothy Springer, a professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Boston Children's Hospital, and one of the winners of the 2022 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award.
CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, will provide seed funding of up to $4.8 million to Intravacc BV to advance the development of a broadly protective betacoronavirus vaccine candidate, which can be delivered intranasally.
Hanall Biopharma Co. Ltd. has clarified that the new FcRn inhibitor IMVT-1402, unveiled by its licensed partner Immunovant Inc. as a new development program for autoimmune diseases, is a compound discovered and developed by Hanall, HL-161ANS.
Endpoint Health Inc. has announced a new precision immunology program targeting inflammation mediated by tissue factor (TF)-dependent intracellular signaling.
Imunon Inc. has reported partial results from an ongoing nonhuman primate study designed to examine the immunogenicity of its proprietary Placcine vaccine (PL-COV). The data support Placcine as a viable alternative to mRNA vaccines.
Tumor mutational burden (TMB), a biomarker used to assess whether a patient will respond to immunotherapy, needs to be recalculated in order to be useful for patients of Asian or African descent. Scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found a significant bias in the estimated TMB values affecting these populations and adjusted them for those patients.