Nature Cell Co. Ltd. won U.S. FDA breakthrough therapy designation of its autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell therapy, Jointstem, March 20, becoming the first Korean company to earn the label in the field of cell therapy.

Samsung Life Science Fund made its first strategic investment of the year into C2N Diagnostics LLC, underscoring the rising potential of blood-based diagnostics in detecting and monitoring the risk of Alzheimer’s disease for the masses.

The map of cystic fibrosis (CF) research is being redrawn in the U.K. as improvements in treatment, and in particular the introduction of CF modulator drugs, mean people with the rare inherited disease are living much longer.

Several Asia biotechs this week – including Innocare Pharma Ltd., Akeso Pharmaceuticals Inc., Sanbio Co. Ltd. and Ascletis Pharma Inc. – unveiled the start of new late-stage clinical trials or interim findings from early stage studies.

Several Asia biotechs this week – including Innocare Pharma Ltd., Akeso Pharmaceuticals Inc., Sanbio Co. Ltd. and Ascletis Pharma Inc. – unveiled the start of new late-stage clinical trials or interim findings from early stage studies.

Junevity Inc. has raised $10 million in seed funding to support its work creating silencing RNA (siRNA) therapeutics to address metabolic and age-related diseases, including type 2 diabetes, obesity and frailty. The seed funding will be used to enhance the company’s RESET platform and develop its first therapeutic candidates in these indications.

Researchers from Fudan University and Southwest University published data from a study that detailed the development of a novel vertebrate model suitable for high-throughput screening of potential antiaging compounds.

The way the brain ages is not the same in women and men. A study in mice has observed differences in the expression of the maternal and paternal X chromosomes that could explain variation in brain aging between the sexes and a faster deterioration in some women. Another study has discovered different survival strategies in the microglial cells of females and males. Both studies highlight sex differences that could have implications for several age-related neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.

Newco Linkgevity Ltd. has won backing from the KQ Labs accelerator program at the Francis Crick Institute in London, enabling it to take forward the lead program, an anti-necrotic drug for treating acute kidney injury, and to further develop its AI-driven system for identifying aging-related therapeutic targets. Alongside access to the Crick’s expertise in translational research and in shaping academic science to make it investible, companies joining KQ Labs receive an equity investment.