Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive cancer from the CNS usually characterized by a very bad prognosis. It is known that around 30%-35% of patients with GBM develop epilepsy as a comorbidity of the disease.
Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. is delaying the phase III data readout from the X-tole2 trial with azetukalner in focal onset seizures (FOS) from the second half of 2025 to early 2026 but remains busy with NDA plans.
Capsida Biotherapeutics Inc. has gained IND clearance from the FDA for CAP-002, its first-in-class, intravenously administered gene therapy for syntaxin-binding protein 1 developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (STXBP1-DEE). Dosing in the phase I/IIa SYNRGY trial will begin in the third quarter of this year.
The U.S. FDA has granted de novo clearance for Epiminder Pty. Ltd.’s Minder implantable device for continuously monitoring brain activity in patients with epilepsy.
The etiology of epilepsy, as well as its pathology, still remains evasive. The role that FK506-binding protein 51 (FKBP51) might play in this disease was investigated in a murine model of kainic acid-induced excitotoxic brain injury.
Neurona Therapeutics Inc. has completed an upsized, oversubscribed $102 million financing round, the third company to do so in a month that’s only four days old. The privately held company’s lead asset is NRTX-1001, a regenerative cell therapy derived from human pluripotent stem cells.
Growing evidence exists on regulation of the chloride importer solute carrier family 12 member 2 (SLC12A2), also known as NKCC1, as a therapeutic approach to treat neurological disorders. Altered expression of NKCC1 leads to impaired intracellular chloride levels in neurons and imbalance in the excitatory-inhibitory axis in the brain.
Iqure Pharma Inc. has received institutional review board (IRB) approval for a first-in-human study of iQ-007 in healthy volunteers. This follows recent formal approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) in Australia for the phase I study, which is expected to begin next month.
Selene Therapeutics Ltd. has identified brain permeable dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of epilepsy, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.