Praedicare Leverages AI, Mathematical Models of Disease Progression and Mapping in World’s First In Silico Clinical Trial of Its Kind

The in silico trial demonstrated 2X the efficacy of the current treatment (>80% vs 39%); 3X shorter treatment time to cure (6 vs 18 months); 1 drug compared to a 3-drug combo for the standard of care; and preclinical results in shorter time than animal models.

Alzheimer’s Drug Development Pipeline: Promising Therapies, Pharma Investment Drive Momentum in Clinical Trials

According to the newly released “Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Development Pipeline: 2023,” there are currently 187 clinical trials in the Alzheimer’s drug development pipeline – the most ever on record. This momentum is driven in part by greater investment from the pharma industry and a bump in biologic therapies – particularly monoclonal antibodies – that were central to the success of both recent FDA-approved drugs.

The annual report spots trends in clinical trial design and outcome measures, and also investigate the types of agents and biological targets that are being pursued.

Potential drug treats fatty liver disease in animal models, brings hope for first human treatment

A potential drug successfully treats the severe form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in non-human primates — bringing scientists one step closer to the first human treatment for the condition that is rapidly increasing around the world, a study suggests. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) causes scarring and inflammation in the liver and is estimated to affect up to 6.5% of the global population.

Hijacking our cells’ enzymes to eliminate disease-causing proteins

The researchers looked at a ubiquitin ligase enzyme named FBXL2, known to degrade proteins at various cellular membrane compartments. They found that by attaching or detaching a fat molecule or lipid to FBXL2 — a process called palmitoylation and de-palmitoylation — they could direct where the FBXL2 went. They also discovered that in order to travel in the aqueous cellular environment for the delivery of lipid-modified FBXL2 to membrane compartments, it used a trafficking protein called PDE6D, which is known to shield the lipid modifications.

Jaime Merchán, M.D., Named a Translational and Clinical Oncology Research Program Co-Leader

Jaime Merchán, M.D., is the new Translational and Clinical Oncology Research Program co-leader at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of UHealth – University of Miami Health System.

National Primate Research Center of Thailand Chulalongkorn University Symposium 2023

As its 11th-anniversary approaches, the National Primate Research Center of Thailand Chulalongkorn University (NPRCT-CU) and the Primates Enterprise Co., Ltd. are pleased to announce two events in February 2023:

Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and Harrington Discovery Institute to Support Promising Research to Protect the Alzheimer’s Brain

The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) and Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland have granted an ADDF-Harrington Scholar Award to Christiane Wrann, PhD, DVM, Associate Professor in Medicine at the Cardiovascular Research Center and the McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School in Boston. Dr. Wrann will receive funding and drug development guidance to help advance her research towards potential new therapies for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

MD Anderson Research Highlights for December 19, 2022

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights provides a glimpse into recent basic, translational and clinical cancer research from MD Anderson experts. Current advances include a cell cycle checkpoint inhibitor with potential therapeutic effects in an ovarian cancer subtype, a telementoring program for French-speaking oncology providers in Africa, insights into the relationship between obesity and immunotherapy side effects, updates to the world’s largest cancer drug discovery knowledgebase, improvements to treatment response by blocking the EGFR pathway, and a novel noninvasive diagnostic test for immunotherapy-related kidney injury.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Cedars-Sinai Experts Available During San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium

Physician-scientists from Cedars-Sinai Cancer are available for comment on research being presented throughout the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, taking place Dec. 6-10.

University of Washington joins industry-academia alliance to accelerate research in neuroscience

The University of Washington has joined the Alliance for Therapies in Neuroscience (ATN), a long-term research partnership between UC San Francisco, UC Berkeley, Genentech (a member of the Roche group) and Roche Holding AG geared to transform the fight against brain diseases and disorders of the central nervous system.

Scientists develop blueprint for turning stem cells into sensory interneurons

Key takeaways:
• Just like the real thing. The stem cell–derived interneurons, which play a role in sensations like touch and pain, are indistinguishable from their real-life counterparts in the body.
• Tomorrow’s therapies. In addition to potential treatments for injury-related sensation loss, the discovery could lead to new methods for screening drugs for chronic pain.
• Moving forward. While stem cells from mice were used in the research, scientists are now working to replicate the findings with human cells.

Texas Biomed tapped for national ‘Dream Team’ developing antivirals against COVID-19 and other threats

Texas Biomedical Research Institute Professor Luis Martinez-Sobrido, PhD, an expert in virology, vaccines and antiviral research, has been recruited to collaborate with three of the nine Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern announced by NIH this spring.

UNH Research Finds Repurposed Drug Inhibits Enzyme Related to COVID-19

With the end of the pandemic seemingly nowhere in sight, scientists are still very focused on finding new or alternative drugs to treat and stop the spread of COVID-19. In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers at the University of New Hampshire have found that using an already existing drug compound in a new way, known as drug repurposing, could be successful in blocking the activity of a key enzyme of the coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.

Harrington Discovery Institute Invites Proposals for 2023 Harrington UK Rare Disease Scholar Award

Harrington Discovery Institute® at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, and its registered UK charity Fund for Cures UK, Ltd. (Fund for Cures UK) have issued a call for proposals for the 2023 Harrington UK Rare Disease Scholar Award. In addition to grant funding, Harrington Discovery provides guidance and oversight in drug development, while intellectual property is retained by the scholar and their institution.

Mount Sinai Researchers Develop Novel Therapy That Could Be Effective in Many Cancers

Mount Sinai researchers have developed a therapeutic agent that shows high effectiveness in vitro at disrupting a biological pathway that helps cancer survive, according to a paper published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, in July.

Novel Method Predicts if COVID-19 Clinical Trials Will Fail or Succeed

Researchers are the first to model COVID-19 completion versus cessation in clinical trials using machine learning algorithms and ensemble learning. They collected 4,441 COVID-19 trials from ClinicalTrials.gov to build a testbed with 693 dimensional features created to represent each clinical trial. These computational methods can predict whether a COVID-19 clinical trial will be completed or terminated, withdrawn or suspended. Stakeholders can leverage the predictions to plan resources, reduce costs, and minimize the time of the clinical study.

How Cells “Read” Artificial Ingredients Tossed into Genetic Recipe

UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers discovered that the enzyme RNA polymerase II recognizes and transcribes artificially added base pairs in genetic code, a new insight that could help advance the development of new vaccines and medicines.

Memory Biomarkers Confirm Aerobic Exercise Helps Cognitive Function in Older Adults

Until now, systemic biomarkers to measure exercise effects on brain function and that link to relevant metabolic responses were lacking. A study shows a memory biomarker, myokine Cathepsin B (CTSB), increased in older adults following a 26-week structured aerobic exercise training. The positive association between CTSB and cognition, and the substantial modulation of lipid metabolites implicated in dementia, support the beneficial effects of exercise training on brain function and brain health in asymptomatic individuals at risk for Alzheimer’s.