Beginning July 1, Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration will allow medicines containing the psychedelic substances psilocybin and MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine) to be prescribed by authorized psychiatrists for certain mental health conditions.

ABVC Biopharma Inc is headquartered in San Francisco but it has its roots in Taiwan where it is digging into traditional medicine and validating it for the modern world. “There are a number of drugs that can’t be synthesized in the lab,” ABVC CEO Howard Doong told BioWorld, so he is going back to the original source of traditional Chinese medicines to validate them using traditional drug development models.

Researchers have identified a link between amyloid plaques and dysfunctional neuronal conduction in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Their study, which was published in the Dec. 1, 2022, issue of Nature, suggests new ways to think about AD, as well as badly needed potential alternatives to plaque removal to fight the disease.

The shadow of two reported patients’ deaths hovers over Eisai Co Ltd. and Biogen Inc.’s Alzheimer’s disease treatment, lecanemab, as the companies prepare to present phase III study data on the drug later today at the 15th Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease conference.

Tenacia Biotechnology Co. Ltd. has acquired exclusive greater China rights to certain formulations of Marinus Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s seizure therapy, ganaxolone (Ztalmy), in a deal worth up to $266 million. Under the terms, Shanghai-based Tenacia now has the rights to develop and commercialize current oral and intravenous dose formulations of ganaxolone in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. It also gained the right to the first negotiation for a new formulation of the drug in the future.

NRG Therapeutics Ltd. has closed a £16 million (US$18.3 million) series A round to take forward programs in Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, after pinning down the target of its brain penetrant small molecules.

Luye Pharma Group has received marketing approval from China’s NMPA for the triple monoamine reuptake inhibitor Ruoxinlin (toludesvenlafaxine hydrochloride) to treat patients with major depressive disorder, a condition that “has become one of the most prevalent mental disorders in China, causing a heavy burden on patients, their families and the entire society,” said Luye President Yang Rongbing.

Astellas Pharma Inc. has invested $50 million in Taysha Gene Therapies Inc. in exchange for 15% of the company and exclusive options to in-license Taysha’s lead gene therapy candidates, TSHA-102 for Rett syndrome and TSHA-120 for giant axonal neuropathy.