A newly discovered antibiotic has been shown to block the synthesis of bacterial cell walls via immutable targets, raising the prospect of a class of drugs that will not lose effect through the development of antimicrobial resistance. Clovibactin, isolated from soil bacteria, targets the cell wall precursor molecules lipid II, lipid III and undecaprenyl phosphate (C55PP), all of which have a pyrophosphate group in common. Read More
Investigators have functionally linked the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk gene SORL1 to apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and clusterin, another apolipoprotein. The work, Tracy Young-Pearse told BioWorld, is part of an attempt to “try to understand different subtypes of Alzheimer’s disease.” It maps some of what Young-Pearse termed the “many molecular roads that lead to Alzheimer’s” – which, in turn, is the first step to setting up roadblocks. Young-Pearse is an associate professor in the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and co-leader of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute’s Nervous System Diseases Program. She is also the senior author of the paper describing the findings, which appeared online in Cell Reports on Aug. 22, 2023. Read More
Most of the West African population is at risk of infection with Lassa virus (LASV), which leads to Lassa fever that causes thousands of deaths every... Read More
Voltage-gated potassium channels (KCNQ) control neural excitability and their dysfunction leads to neuronal channelopathies frequently related to... Read More
Chengdu Kanghong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has disclosed sodium channel protein type 10 subunit alpha (Nav1.8) channel blockers reported to be... Read More
Vincerx Pharma Inc. has received IND clearance from the FDA to initiate a phase I trial for VIP-943, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) for acute... Read More
Akava Therapeutics Inc. has announced FDA clearance of its IND application for AKV-9 (formerly NU-9) for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The company is planning a first-in-human phase I study in healthy subjects. Read More
Wigen Biomedicine Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. has synthesized compounds acting as poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP; ARTD) inhibitors, preferably PARP-1, reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More
Shandong New Time Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has identified cathepsin K inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of osteoporosis, among others. Read More
Exavir Therapeutics Inc. has received a US$3 million award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a division of the National Institutes of Health, to support the development of XVIR-110. Read More
Thymidylate synthase (TS) is an enzyme essential for DNA synthesis and cell proliferation and is a potential oncoprotein itself. Consequently, TS is considered a molecular target for malignant tumors. Read More
Verismo Therapeutics Inc. has entered into a licensing agreement with the University of Pennsylvania for worldwide exclusive rights for two newly discovered anti-CD19 binders, the result of a sponsored research agreement between the two parties. Read More
Beijing Entaiwei Medicine Science Technology Co. Ltd. has described prodrugs of β-D-N4-hydroxycytidine reported to be useful for the treatment of viral infections. Read More
