Reece Armstrong speaks to Melanie Adams-Cioaba, Senior Director and General Manager of pharma (cryo-EM), Thermo Fisher Scientific about advances in vaccine design. RA: How can rational design approaches help advance vaccine development?     MA: Regarding vaccine development specifically, and the role my team plays in the development of cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) technology, we see the study and dissemination of virus structures, and the proteins that comprise them, as vital to vaccine design. Using structural biology as central to vaccine design and development, and to ..read more

Aardvark Therapeutics has announced an $85 million oversubscribed Series C financing. The funding will be used to complete the clinical trials required for regulatory approval of Aardvark’s lead asset, ARD-101, for the treatment of hyperphagia in patients with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS), as well as to demonstrate ARD-101’s complementary mechanism of action to the current GLP-1 therapies in the treatment of obesity, and to advance other Aardvark pipeline programmes. PWS is a severe neuro-developmental disorder with an incidence of about one in 15,000-20,000 births. The disorder is caused by t ..read more

News round-up for 6-10 May by DDW Multimedia Editor Megan Thomas. A leading news story this week has been the announcement of positive Phase II results of a head and neck cancer trial, but there have been a number of other interesting clinical result announcements. These include the discovery of molecular doorways that could be used to help deliver drugs into the brain to treat neurological disorders, a plant-based medication which may be an effective therapy to help patients stop vaping, immune B cells which could be used to develop cancer targeting immunotherapies, and positive top-line res ..read more

Newron Pharmaceuticals has announced positive top-line results from its potentially pivotal study 008A, evaluating the safety, tolerability and efficacy of evenamide (30 mg bid) in patients with chronic schizophrenia currently being treated with a second-generation antipsychotic including clozapine, but demonstrating an inadequate response to that treatment.   The study met its primary endpoint of improvement on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) Total Score as well as the key secondary endpoint of improvement of the Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI-S).  ..read more

Improvements to the ways medicines are discovered are essential for the future health of patients, a new report by Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) shows.   The State of the Discovery Nation (SODN) 2024: ‘Fostering a Dynamic, Sustainable Medicines Discovery Sector’ report states that the industry must work together to de-risk funding in drug discovery and attract more investors.  The report, released in partnership with the UK BioIndustry Association and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, looks at how life sciences companies have been impacted by recent e ..read more

Mekonos, a company working towards cell engineering on a chip, has entered into a partnership agreement with Accelerated Bio to codevelop a new manufacturing cell line based on Accelerated Bio’s human Trophoblast Stem Cells (hTSCs) and Gene Engineered Multi-Sites (GEMS) technology.  Dr Anil Narasimha, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mekonos, said: “Our platform brings together semiconductor, microfluidic, and surface chemistry technologies to enable the full potential of gene editing for cell therapies and cell engineering through the precise and gentle delivery of a wide varie ..read more

Lantern Pharma has entered a strategic AI-driven collaboration with French biotechnology company Oregon Therapeutics to optimise the development of its first-in-class protein disulfide isomerase (PDI)1 inhibitor drug candidate XCE853 in novel and targeted cancer indications.   Lantern will be leveraging its RADR AI platform to uncover biomarkers and efficacy-associated signatures of XCE853 across solid tumours that can aid in precision development. Collaborative efforts are expected to identify biomarker signatures that can be used to stratify tumours most responsive to XCE853 and g ..read more

DDW Editor Reece Armstrong speaks to Michael Wyand, Chief Executive Officer/Director, Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals about the development of the company’s treatment for concussion (OXE103) and the current lack of effective therapies for brain injuries.   RA: Tell us how OXE103 works?   MW: OXE103 (ghrelin) is a 28 amino acid neuro-peptide hormone that crosses the blood brain barrier and is responsible for maintaining brain energy homeostasis and neuroprotection related to neuronal cell preservation, axonal connectivity and decreased inflammation. OXE103 decreases reactive oxygen spe ..read more

The latest episode of the DDW Highlights podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Megan Thomas narrates five key stories of the week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry updates.  The ongoing innovation and development in the drug discovery sector relies on a number of moving parts, one of which is financial support and backing. Whether it is successful seed funding or dedicated investment, this money enables scientists to produce top-quality research which will in turn result in discoveries and drugs that help tackle disease and areas of unm ..read more

The latest episode of the DDW Highlights podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Megan Thomas narrates five key stories of the week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry updates.  The ongoing innovation and development in the drug discovery sector relies on a number of moving parts, one of which is financial support and backing. Whether it is successful seed funding or dedicated investment, this money enables scientists to produce top-quality research which will in turn result in discoveries and drugs that help tackle disease and areas of unm ..read more