Ohio State University has synthesized DNA topoisomerase II (bacterial) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections.
Precision Biosciences Inc. has received pre-IND regulatory feedback from the FDA and ex-U.S. agencies providing alignment and clarity on Precision's final IND/CTA-enabling preclinical plans and clinical strategy for PBGENE-HBV.
The current standard treatment for tuberculosis (TB) consists of a combination of four antibiotics administered for 6 to 12 months. There is hence a clear need for new strategies both for shorter treatment periods and that may address the emergence of multi- and extensive drug-resistant TB. Researchers from Scripps Research Institute have reported on the synthesis and preclinical characterization of a series of novel aryl fluorosulfate derivatives designed to be used for the treatment of TB.
Infection with Helicobacter pylori is a risk factor for the development of gastric cancer. H. pylori initiates a chronic inflammatory response that can lead to the production of excessive radical oxygen species (ROS), which in turn can activate oncogenic signaling pathways leading to gastric cancer development. SUMOylation is a post-translational modification mechanism in cells in response to reactions to stress. A team at The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University hence set out to study the role of SUMO-activating enzyme subunit 1 (SAE1) in gastric cancer, since it is a SUMO-activating effector protein.
Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X), led by Boston University, is awarding $1.2 million to the Andrew G. Myers Research Group at Harvard University to develop a series of enhanced oral antibiotics that directly target a range of antibiotic-resistant bacteria which cause serious lower respiratory tract and skin and soft tissue infections.
Trawsfynydd Therapeutics Inc. has received approval to initiate a first-in-man phase I trial of the novel best-in-class COVID-19 treatment, TRX-01, an inhibitor targeting the SARS-CoV-2 viral main protease (3CL, Mpro).
AN2 Therapeutics Inc.’s decision to pause enrollment in the phase III portion of its phase II/III testing epetraborole in treatment-refractory Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease, citing potentially lower-than-expected efficacy from a blinded aggregate analysis of the phase II portion, left analysts and investors with little to do but speculate on the program’s viability going forward.
COVID-19 severity remains open to several questions. Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have revealed how SARS-CoV-2 causes acute inflammation instead of the symptoms of a common cold. This effect could be initiated by the peptide fragments of the coronavirus released when the host eliminates the virus, which can form pro-inflammatory complexes that trigger an amplified immune response.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a sweeping plan that is designed to help manage vector-borne pathogens, such as the Zika virus, with the ultimate goal of reducing the related disease burden to zero.