Multivalent Fragments in the Clinic: Muvalaplin
Researchers at Eli Lilly and Monash University have advanced a multivalent fragment, muvalaplin (LY3473329), to target the Kringle IV‑8 domain of apolipoprotein(a). The trimeric molecule binds three copies of KIV8, achieving picomolar inhibition of Lp(a) assembly in vitro and lowering circulating Lp(a) in cynomolgus monkeys after oral dosing. Muvalaplin retains oral bioavailability despite a >700 Da molecular weight and shows selectivity over plasminogen, avoiding clot‑dissolving activity. The compound is now in a phase 3 trial involving up to 10,450 patients.
#ACTRIMS26: Roche’s MS Drug Fenebrutinib Beats Ocrevus, Cutting Risk of Disability Progression by 12%
Roche announced that its Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor fenebrutinib achieved non‑inferior efficacy to the company’s blockbuster Ocrevus in a Phase 3 trial for primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). The oral agent lowered the risk of confirmed disability progression by 12%...
Briya Appoints Brian Creighton to Boost Growth in AI-Driven Healthcare Data
Briya, a health‑AI firm, announced Brian Creighton as Executive Director of Client Strategy to accelerate its U.S. expansion. Creighton brings more than two decades of medical imaging and AI sales experience, most recently as VP of Sales at Merative. He...
Module 1 Quiz
Drug Hunter has launched a Module 1 Quiz to evaluate learners’ grasp of introductory drug‑discovery concepts. The quiz spans all sections of the first module and is accessible through the platform’s subscription model. Users can take the assessment after reviewing the...
Breast Cancer Treatments Heat Up: Six Therapies Poised to Transform Patient Outcomes
The breast‑cancer pipeline is heating up as several late‑stage candidates demonstrate significant efficacy across sub‑types. Roche’s oral SERD giredestrant cut invasive disease recurrence by 30% in early‑stage ER‑positive patients, while AstraZeneca’s camizestrant combined with a CDK4/6 inhibitor reduced progression risk...
Biogen’s Much Anticipated Tau Readout in Alzheimer’s Will Spur More Questions
Biogen expects Phase 2 readout for its tau‑targeting antisense oligonucleotide BIIB080 in the second or third quarter of 2026. The CELIA trial evaluates three dose levels through week 76 and uses cognition as the primary endpoint. A positive signal could lift Biogen’s...
Takeda, Iambic Sign Multiyear R&D Deal for AI Drug Discovery
Takeda Pharmaceutical announced a multi‑year research agreement with San Diego biotech Iambic to develop AI‑driven small‑molecule drug candidates. The collaboration merges Takeda’s therapeutic expertise with Iambic’s generative AI platform to accelerate hit identification and lead optimization. Joint R&D labs, data...
Takeda, Iambic Partner in Latest Pharma AI Push
Japan’s largest drugmaker Takeda has signed a multiyear agreement with AI specialist Iambic Therapeutics, potentially worth more than $1.7 billion. The partnership grants Takeda access to Iambic’s AI‑driven drug discovery platform and a protein‑receptor interaction model, targeting small‑molecule treatments for cancer,...
New Diagnostics Define Drug Targets for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Beyond
Amprion Diagnostics has commercialized a seed‑amplification assay, SAAmplify‑αSYN, that detects misfolded alpha‑synuclein in cerebrospinal fluid, earning FDA breakthrough‑device status in 2019. The test can identify Parkinson’s, Lewy‑body dementia and up to half of Alzheimer’s cases years before clinical symptoms appear....
Liver Toxicities Force Pause on Two Dose Groups of UniQure’s Mid-Stage Fabry Study
UniQure paused dosing in the mid- and high-dose arms of its Phase 1/2a Fabry gene‑therapy trial after two patients experienced grade 3 liver enzyme elevations. The affected cohorts received 4 × 10¹³ and 6 × 10¹³ genome copies per kilogram of AMT‑191, while the low‑dose group...
Data Builds on Roche's Dominance in Primary Progressive MS
Roche disclosed phase 3 data showing its oral BTK inhibitor fenebrutinib is non‑inferior to Ocrevus in primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). The FENtrepid trial demonstrated a 12% relative reduction in disability progression risk over 24 weeks, with a notable 26% improvement...
Ultragenyx’s Gene Therapy Shows Long-Term Efficacy in Two Sanfilippo Studies
Ultragenyx reported that its investigational AAV gene therapy UX111 delivers sustained cognitive improvements in Sanfilippo A patients, with follow‑up extending up to 8.5 years. Data from 33 dosed participants—27 receiving the highest dose—showed a 23.3‑point gain on the Bailey‑III scale...
E
So $LLY not interested in oncology applications of Orna's in vivo Car-T? $ABBV $AZN $BMY $GILD https://t.co/wB3rR5LID8
Novo Nordisk Joins DOJ, FDA to Target Hims
There you go - $NVO ***FINALLY*** going after $HIMS themselves. DOJ, FDA, $NVO all on board now. Time for $HIMS to get what they deserve.
Novo Nordisk Sues Hims over Wegovy Patent Infringement, Considers Seeking 'Hundreds of Millions' In Damages
Novo Nordisk has filed a federal lawsuit against Hims Inc., alleging that the company infringed on patents covering Wegovy, Novo's flagship semaglutide obesity treatment. The complaint seeks damages in the “hundreds of millions” of dollars, reflecting the high commercial stakes...
Hengrui, Kailera Tout Positive Results for Dual-Acting Obesity Pill
Hengrui Pharma and Kailera Therapeutics reported Phase 2 results for oral ribupatide, a dual GLP‑1/GIP obesity pill. In a 166‑patient, 26‑week study the drug produced an average 12 % weight loss versus 2 % for placebo, with over half of high‑dose participants shedding...
Novartis Breaks Ground on San Diego Biomedical R&D Site
Novartis has broken ground on a $1.1 billion, 466,000‑sq‑ft biomedical research centre in San Diego, the flagship of a $23 billion U.S. capital investment programme. The campus, slated to open around 2029, will house roughly 1,000 scientists and integrate the company’s West...
Making AI Work, MIT Technology Review’s New AI Newsletter, Is Here
MIT Technology Review has launched "Making AI Work," a limited‑run, seven‑week AI mini‑course newsletter that delivers weekly case studies on real‑world AI deployments. The series spans health care, nuclear energy, education, small‑business operations, finance and personal productivity, ending with a...
NIH Director Says No Studies Link Vaccines and Autism, Outlines Modernization
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya told the Senate HELP Committee that no scientific study links any vaccine to autism, reaffirming the consensus after senators raised vaccine‑safety concerns. He used the hearing to unveil a modernization agenda that includes centralizing peer review,...
CDC Traveler-Based Genomic Surveillance Program Tops One Million Participants, Giving Clinical Labs Earlier Warning on Emerging Variants
The CDC’s Traveler‑Based Genomic Surveillance (TGS) program has crossed the one‑million‑volunteer threshold, marking a major expansion of upstream pathogen monitoring at U.S. airports. Launched in 2021, TGS combines anonymous nasal swabs from international arrivals with aircraft wastewater sampling, leveraging public‑private...
Kaster Technologies Raises $1.6 Million to Scale up Pharma Manufacturing
Canadian startup Kaster Technologies announced a CAD 1.6 million pre‑seed round led by Graphite Ventures, with participation from Hidden Layers Capital and angel investor Louis‑Martin Rousseau. The company offers an AI‑guided software platform that optimizes pharmaceutical production cycles, promising up to...
Navigating the Complexities of Cell and Gene Therapy Supply Chains
Cell and gene therapies (CGTs) promise breakthrough treatments but demand highly complex supply chains. The process spans cell collection, manufacturing, temperature‑controlled transport, and delivery, requiring strict regulatory compliance and real‑time data integrity. Developers face challenges such as cold‑chain logistics, stakeholder...
BullFrog AI to Unveil New Precision AI Capability
BullFrog AI announced a new scenario‑based decision engine to be released on March 25, adding a strategic layer to its bfPREP™ and bfLEAP® platforms. The engine compares drug programs, indications, and trial designs without forcing single numeric scores, and evaluates portfolio...
Zydus Lifesciences Posts 30% Revenue Jump in Q3, Net Profit up 9%
Zydus Lifesciences reported a 30% year‑on‑year revenue increase to ₹68.6 bn in Q3 FY2025‑26, driven by strong performance across pharmaceuticals, consumer wellness and medtech. Adjusted net profit rose 9% to ₹11.1 bn, while EBITDA grew 31% to ₹18.2 bn, lifting margins to 26.5%....
Strong Clinical Data for Breye Lead Asset Danegaptide
Breye Therapeutics presented early-phase data on its oral small‑molecule danegaptide for non‑proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR). In a multi‑centre phase 1b study of 24 patients, the drug was well tolerated and achieved plasma concentrations within the target range. More than half of...
Lilly Returns to Innovent to Partner on Cancer and Immune Diseases
Eli Lilly has deepened its alliance with China‑based Innovent Biologics, signing a new agreement that includes a $350 million upfront payment. The partnership will focus on co‑developing bispecific antibody candidates targeting oncology and immunology indications. Both companies will share development costs, milestone...
Biotech Startup Pandorum Technologies Raises $18 Mn in Series B Round
Pandorum Technologies, an Indian‑US biotech focused on exosome‑based regenerative therapies, closed an $18 million Series B round led by Protons Corporate. The round, completed in two tranches, values the company at roughly $91 million post‑money, bringing total capital raised to about $43 million. Proceeds...
The Peptide Craze Sweeping America Has a Fan in RFK Jr
The U.S. wellness market has been flooded with unapproved "pop" peptides such as BPC‑157, GHK‑Cu and TB‑500, prompting the FDA in 2023 to reclassify most of them as Category 2, effectively banning their compounding. Despite the ban, a gray‑market supply chain—often...
Elevate Now Raises Rs 18 Cr in Seed Round Led by Physis Capital
Elevate Now, a doctor‑led clinical weight‑loss platform, secured Rs 18 crore in a seed round headed by Physis Capital, with Inflection Point Ventures and Titan Capital also participating. The Bengaluru startup previously raised $2 million in a pre‑seed round from W Health Ventures,...
Global HealthX Crosses $15 Mn in Healthcare Investments, Unveils Startup Cohort
Global HealthX, the venture studio of the Global University Foundation, announced it has surpassed $15 million in investments across Indian healthcare and life‑science startups over the past two years. The latest cohort features five companies—TapHealth, Wellytics, Monitra Health, Merry Health and...
FDA Policy Tracker 2026: Priority Vouchers Questioned, PRVs Return
2026 regulatory landscape sees the FDA reviving the rare‑pediatric disease priority review voucher (PRV) program, launching the PreCheck manufacturing pilot, and issuing new guidance for multiple myeloma trials and GLP‑1 label warnings. The PRV reinstatement restores a $150 million voucher market,...
Cerebellar Microglia-Derived IL-17A Mitigates Autism-Related Behavioral and Synaptic Deficits
Researchers discovered that cerebellar microglia are the sole source of elevated interleukin‑17A (IL‑17A) in a Fragile X mouse model of autism. The microglia‑derived IL‑17A restores Purkinje cell firing rates and normalizes synaptic inhibition, leading to improved social interaction and reduced...
The Many-to-Many Problem of Endophenotypes in Psychiatry - a Biological Perspective
The article argues that current psychiatric diagnostic systems and neuroimaging endophenotypes fail to capture the underlying biological complexity of mental illness. Genetic studies reveal extensive pleiotropy and overlapping risk loci across disorders, while neurotransmitter systems exhibit strong spatial colocalization, creating...
Correction: Microbiota Is Essential for Social Development in the Mouse
A correction notice was issued for the Molecular Psychiatry article that originally linked gut microbiota to social development in mice. The wrong image was published as Figure 1a and has now been replaced with the correct visual, while Figure 1b and the...
Circuit-Informed Modulation of Traumatic Memory in PTSD: Integrating Extinction, Suppression, and Reconsolidation
A new review synthesizes recent circuit‑level findings to propose an integrated model for modulating traumatic memories in PTSD. It combines extinction, memory suppression, and reconsolidation mechanisms, emphasizing the amygdala‑prefrontal‑hippocampal network and its neuromodulatory inputs. The authors highlight how this framework...
GLP-1s Are an Environmental Catastrophe
GLP‑1 agonists such as Ozempic have surged in popularity for weight loss, but their peptide‑based manufacturing generates massive environmental waste. Current solid‑phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) relies on toxic organic solvents, producing over 123 million pounds of waste annually for semaglutide alone....
ByteDance Releases Protenix-V1: A New Open-Source Model Achieving AF3-Level Performance in Biomolecular Structure Prediction
ByteDance unveiled Protenix‑v1, an open‑source, AlphaFold3‑style foundation model for all‑atom biomolecular structure prediction covering proteins, nucleic acids and ligands. The 368 million‑parameter system matches AlphaFold3’s training data cutoff, model scale and inference budget, and claims superior performance on curated benchmarks. Protenix...
Flickstop
A recent BMJ article outlines a comprehensive telesurgery architecture comprising robot, telecommunication, and teleconference subsystems. The design employs a dedicated line with a backup path to link the surgeon console and patient cart, while a secondary console resides in the...
India Has Changed Its Startup Rules for Deep Tech
India has overhauled its startup framework, extending deep‑tech status to 20 years and raising the revenue eligibility threshold to ₹3 billion. The change dovetails with a ₹1 trillion Research, Development and Innovation fund and the $1 billion‑plus India Deep Tech Alliance, aimed at easing...
Doctors Overprescribe Personalized Semaglutide, Raising Legal Red Flags
Oh and it’s been a while since this topic has come up, but, to the $HIMS-employed doctors/nurse practitioners etc who have been writing millions of “personalized” doses of semaglutide nonstop in order to help the company skirt intellectual property rights: Do...
All Pharma Will Secure Chinese Clinical Development Partner Soon
Within the next 18-24 months every Pharma will have a partner to access the China fast clinical development engine https://t.co/zpLV1XJbvB https://t.co/h5CyXUNO82
SpaceX Crew-12 Will Study How Microgravity Affects the Human Body
NASA’s Crew‑12 mission will launch aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon on Feb. 11, carrying two NASA astronauts, an ESA specialist, and a Russian cosmonaut. While aboard the ISS, the crew will conduct the Venous Flow study to assess blood‑clot risk and a...
#ACTRIMS26: Sanofi Unpacks Data From a Failed Phase 3 Tolebrutinib Trial in PPMS
Sanofi disclosed results from its Phase 3 trial of the BTK inhibitor tolebrutinib in primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). The study failed to meet its primary endpoint of slowing disability progression, and secondary outcomes showed no meaningful benefit. Safety data...
Exposure to Grilled Lamb‐Borne Carbon Quantum Dots Induces Intrahepatic Cholestasis by Activating the Intestinal Microbial‐Derived Lipopolysaccharide‐TLR4 Pathway
Researchers discovered that carbon quantum dots (CQDs) released from grilled lamb accumulate in mice after nine weeks of oral exposure at 25 mg kg⁻¹, damaging liver and intestinal barriers. The CQDs elevate gut‑derived lipopolysaccharide, triggering the intestinal LPS‑TLR4‑MyD88 signaling cascade and hepatic...
Advanced Photoporation: Micro‐Nanostructures for Size‐Specific Highly Efficient Biomolecular Delivery
Photoporation is emerging as a versatile, non‑viral platform for intracellular delivery, and a new review proposes a size‑centric framework that categorises strategies by cargo dimensions rather than by laser or material type. The authors analyse how micro‑ and nanostructured substrates...
Biocompatible Glue‐Enabled Drug Localization and Mechanical Reinforcement of Lyophilized Microneedle Systems
The Lyophilized Microneedle System with Biocompatible Glue (LMS‑BG) integrates a porous, drug‑loaded microneedle tip with a biodegradable ethanol‑based glue to create a mechanically robust, ultra‑fast dissolving transdermal platform. In tests using lidocaine, the system dissolved 11‑times faster than conventional dissolving...
Dynamically Reprograms Mitochondrial Respiration to Augment Cuproptosis in Cancer Therapy
Researchers engineered a copper‑coordinated polymer that transports lactate oxidase into cancer cells, converting intracellular lactate to pyruvate. This metabolic shift elevates mitochondrial respiration, sensitizing tumors to copper‑driven cuproptosis. Simultaneously, copper triggers DLAT oligomerization and a Fenton‑like reaction, inducing ferroptosis. In...
NBD Integrated and Vitamin B6‐Driven Charge‐Reversible Peptide‐Based Nanocarriers for Targeted Therapeutic Delivery
Researchers have engineered a phenylalanine‑tryptophan dipeptide nanocarrier functionalized with the fluorescent probe NBD and a vitamin B6‑derived pH‑responsive unit. The self‑assembled nanospheres load doxorubicin with high efficiency and undergo charge reversal at mildly acidic pH, triggering rapid drug release and nuclear...
Dual Therapeutic Effects of Ultra‐Small Platinum‐Selenium Nanoparticles on Oxalate‐Induced Acute Kidney Injury
Researchers synthesized ultra‑small platinum‑selenium (Pt‑Se) nanoparticles that effectively halt calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystal nucleation and growth, reducing crystal‑cell interactions and oxidative damage. In vitro assays demonstrated strong inhibition of CaOx crystallization, while a hyperoxaluria mouse model showed markedly lower renal...
Fluorescently Labeled Gradient Hydrogels Reveal Matrix‐Dependent Cell Responses to Substrate Stiffness
Researchers introduced a thermophoresis-based method to fabricate fluorescently labeled stiffness gradient hydrogels, enabling contactless stiffness mapping via standard microscopy. The technique leverages fluorescein isothiocyanate labeling, where fluorescence intensity reflects polymer concentration and thus stiffness. Experiments with gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) and...