A joint Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology and Novartis AG patent describes antiviral 1,3-di-oxo-indene compounds reported to be useful for the treatment of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, hepatitis A, viral infection, myocarditis, myositis and pancreatitis, among others.
Epigenic Therapeutics Inc. has received clinical trial application (CTA) approval from the New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority (Medsafe) and the Health and Disability Ethics Committees (HDEC) to initiate a clinical trial for EPI-003, an investigational, liver-targeting antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.
Gilead Sciences Inc. has synthesized 4-aminopyrrolo[2,1-F][1,2,4]triazine C-nucleoside analogues acting as prodrugs of GS-441524 and reported to be useful for the treatment of viral infections.
Patients infected with hepatitis C have had the ability to rid their livers of the virus for some time, while patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection have been required to take medications for the rest of their lives in the hopes of just dampening damage to the liver caused by the virus. But, at The Liver Meeting 2024, Arbutus presented data from the phase IIa Im-prove study suggesting a cure might be on its way with its DNAi drug, which binds to the viral mRNA promoting its cutting, leading to loss of translation of the viral proteins.
The EMA has changed its mind about an earlier decision that the risks of Leqembi (lecanemab) outweigh the benefits and is now recommending the Alzheimer’s disease drug is approved for a subgroup of patients. That follows an appeal by Eisai Co. Ltd. and a re-examination of the data, after details relating to 274 patients with two copies of the ApoE4 gene were removed from the file.
Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. has received IND clearance from the FDA to begin a phase I study of ARCT-2304, a self-amplifying mRNA (sa-mRNA) vaccine candidate for active immunization to prevent pandemic influenza disease caused by H5N1 virus.
Ifast Diagnostics Ltd. raised $6.5 million (£5 million) in seed funding to bring its rapid Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (AST) platform to the market. The company’s technology is vital in the fight against antimicrobial resistance and the funds will be used to conduct clinical trials to get the product to the market in the U.K., U.S. and EU, CEO Toby King, told BioWorld.
Westlake Pharmaceutical (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd. has prepared and tested new 3C-like proteinase (3CLpro; Mpro; nsp5) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of coronavirus acute respiratory syndrome.