- | DURECT
Epigenetic Regulation To Treat Acute Organ Injury And Chronic Liver Diseases
DURECT Corporation is advancing an epigenetic regulator program aimed at developing products to treat acute AH and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a type of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. DURECT’s therapeutics in development have the potential to treat multiple organ injury and chronic liver diseases.
- | Heat Bio
Jeff Wolf: Congress and the administration: Seniors and certain minority groups need a ‘super-vaccine’
The critical difference is that older patients and those who are immune-compromised tend to lack a robust T-cell response, which Heat Biologics believes is important in preventing the disease. With the typical flu, seniors are often prescribed a double-dose of vaccine to compensate for their inability to mount an effective adaptive response. This approach, however, may not be optimal in vaccinating against COVID-19. New data suggests that a combination of T-cell and antibody responses against COVID-19 may provide the best protection for seniors and others.
- | 9 Meters
Assembling a Pipeline for Rare GI Disorders
9 Meters Biopharma is focused on rare gastrointestinal conditions. It is advancing an experimental therapy for short bowel syndrome. We spoke to John Temperato, president and CEO of 9 Meters Biophama, about short bowel syndrome, the company’s experimental therapy to treat the condition, and how the company has built its pipeline through two recent mergers.
- | Aligos Therapeutics
Aligos Therapeutics — The Next Step Of Lawrence Blatt’s Entrepreneurial Expedition
Not long ago, someone asked Lawrence Blatt, Ph.D., the probability that one of his company’s drugs would be successful. “I don’t want to think about that,” responded the CEO of Aligos Therapeutics. Blatt wasn’t trying to be coy; he knew the answer, and he knew it wouldn’t sound good.
- | Chiasma
Chiasma secures FDA approval for acromegaly pill Mycapssa years after near-catastrophic rejection
Chiasma’s Mycapssa (octreotide) has become the first FDA-approved oral therapy to treat acromegaly, a rare disorder in which overproduction of human growth hormone leads to abnormal enlargement of patients’ extremities and internal organs, the drugmaker said.
- | Vaccinex
Treating Huntington’s Disease by Addressing Neuroinflammation
Huntington’s disease is a rare and fatal neurodegenerative condition that is without any disease-modifying therapies today. Vaccinex is developing an experimental therapy designed to treat Huntington’s disease by addressing neuroinflammation, a hallmark of the condition that it shares with other neurodegenerative diseases.
- | NantKwest
Former Sen. Harry Reid Says He’s in ‘Complete Remission’ After Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
Dr. Soon-Shiong tells PEOPLE he’s working to create a more universal cancer treatment by rethinking how we use radiation to target cancer cells – and that Reid is proof it can work. Instead of blasting the body with high doses of radiation, the doctor says the method he’s testing “tickles” the cancer cells to wake them up, while at the same time a patient is injected with additional “natural killer cells” that reinforce the body’s immune system in order to find and fight off the cancer.
- | Cerevance
Will We Ever Find a Cure for Dementia?
This precise approach “makes it possible to make drugs that only act on the cell type you care about,” reducing the unwanted side effects that most drugs have, says Margus, chief executive officer of Cerevance, a Boston-based drug development company focused on brain diseases. What’s more, it could lead to a major breakthrough in the field of dementia research. About 50 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, and still there is no treatment to stop or slow its progression.
