The €1.5 million ($US1.63 million) in pre-seed funding recently raised by En Carta Diagnostics SA is “key” for the company to be able to develop its point-of-care molecular diagnostics kits and generate clinical data, Guillaume Horreard, CEO at En Carta told BioWorld.
Researchers from Purdue University and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have identified a potential target for treating Lyme disease, a prevalent tick-borne illness of increasing concern worldwide. Current treatment for Lyme disease is based on long-term administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics, with significant costs and impact on patients’ quality of life.
Lyme disease, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, is the leading tick-borne infection. Between 10% and 35% of patients show post-antibiotic treatment Lyme disease syndrome, with symptoms including fatigue, cognitive issues, memory loss, neuropathy, joint pain, musculoskeletal pain, sleep issues, depression and others.
With its sights set on expanding the commercial launch of Xdemvy (lotilaner ophthalmic solution, 0.25%) to treat Demodex blepharitis in the U.S., Tarsus Pharmaceuticals Inc. has priced an underwritten public offering of common stock, selling 2.8 million shares for $32 each, taking the expected gross proceeds to about $100 million.
Immuno Technologies Inc. and affiliated organizations have published preclinical data on a novel parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5)-vectored intranasal vaccine for Lyme disease.
Traditionally developed antibiotics generally act inhibiting essential bacterial enzymes. However, new strategies are urgently needed to discover novel antibiotics against bacterial infections, such as Lyme disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. The chaperone high-temperature protein G (HtpG) is a nonessential bacterial protein containing a desirable druggable domain.
Borrelia burgdorferi, one of the bacteria species causing Lyme disease, has a small genome and is therefore highly dependent on its hosts to obtain many necessary metabolites. Its small genome makes B. burgdorferi an attractive candidate for developing narrow-spectrum antibiotics targeting those essential genes. The use of narrow-spectrum antibiotics may reduce the risk of side effects and the spread of antimicrobial resistances compared with traditional, long-term antibiotic treatments.
Lyme disease, caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi and transmitted by Ixodes ticks, is expanding in many countries, posing a significant global health concern. The outer surface protein A (OspA) of B. burgdorferi is currently the most promising target for vaccine development, primarily because of its broad conservation among different bacterial strains that cause the disease. In a recent publication, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and collaborators proposed using a lipid nanoparticle-encapsulated nucleoside-modified mRNA (mRNA-LNP) platform, similar to that of clinical vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, to develop a vaccine against Lyme disease.
Twelve months after a single shot of Valneva SE’s chikungunya vaccine, positive antibody persistence was found, threatening a deadly disease that has long resisted treatment. The new data are derived from a study of 363 healthy adult participants that followed them from month 6 after vaccination to month 12. Nearly all, 99%, kept their neutralizing antibody titers for 12 months beyond the seroresponse threshold of 150, which hit the primary endpoint and the antibody level agreed with regulators as endpoint under the accelerated approval pathway.
Valneva SE has struggled to get its COVID-19 vaccine on the market, but efforts to get the first Lyme disease vaccine approved in years now appear firmly on track after partner Pfizer Inc. invested €90.5 million (US$94.9 million) in the project. New York-based Pfizer has been working with Saint-Herblain, France based Valneva on the Lyme disease vaccine since April 2020, when the big pharma bought into the development program for the vaccine candidate codenamed VLA-15 for $130 million.
