Harness Therapeutics Ltd. has raised fresh financing to further develop its technology for upregulating the translation of mRNA into proteins, and in particular to take on a previously undruggable target in Huntington’s disease.

Lantheus Holdings Inc. is making waves in M&A with its second big deal of the month – and year – the acquisition of Evergreen Theragnostics Inc. for $250 million in cash up front and up to an additional $752.5 million in contingent payments. The transaction follows announcement of a definitive agreement to acquire Life Molecular Imaging Ltd., a subsidiary of Life Healthcare Group Holdings Ltd., on Jan. 13 for $350 million in cash at closing and a further $400 million in milestone payments.

Lifearc has announced a collaboration with Neuropeutics Inc. to develop a new small molecule for the treatment of motor neuron disease (MND), or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Neuropeutics and Lifearc intend to develop a lead candidate therapeutic to prevent and reverse TDP-43 protein aggregation in MND/ALS.

Recent transcriptomic studies indicated a connection between neuroinflammation, changes in neuroimmune responses, and the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The microglial calcium-binding protein A9 (S100A9) showed increased circulating levels in young adults, positively correlating with autistic severity.

A U.S. Federal Claims Court judge shot down Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s accusations that the FDA disclosed the company’s trade secrets to generic competitors, finding that the trade secrets weren’t really secret or necessarily proprietary to Vanda.

Researchers from Guangzhou Medical University and affiliated organizations presented data from a study that aimed to investigate the disease-causing mechanism of EP400, a gene that encodes the E1A binding protein p400, which is a core catalytic ATPase subunit of ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes.