Drug Discovery & Development
Step toward broader treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Current therapies to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic muscle-wasting disease, only work in a small proportion of people with the condition. Research published on February 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science provides a proof of concept for developing a therapy that could work for almost half of the people affected. Read More
How one company is helping make complex medicines safer
Often, the most dangerous things in life are things that the human eye cannot see. This is true even for life-saving medicines. One company was founded to help the industry find these hidden particles and solve a key challenge in the development of complex drug products. Halo Labs’ CEO Rick Gordon spoke with ScienceBoard about how its low volume approach is providing a critical service for the drug development industry. Read More
Investment into regenerative medicine grows alongside company collaborations
Regenerative medicine is a relatively new area of medicine that involves significant research into how to harness the body's own healing mechanisms as treatments for a variety of diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and osteoarthritis. This is performed through the use of stem cell therapies, tissue engineering, and medical devices. The field is rapidly expanding, with many companies forming strategic research partnerships. Read More
Applied DNA and EvviVax publish data for potential cancer immunotherapy
Applied DNA Sciences and EvviVax have published a manuscript detailing a preclinical study showing that LinearDNA vaccines used for cancer immunotherapy produced a strong immune and specific antitumoral response in preclinical mouse models. The study investigated the use of the LinearDNA platform to produce DNA vaccines targeting either tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) or tumor-specific antigens (TSAs, or tumor neoantigens). Read More
Machine vision advances single-cell sequencing for small samples
The ability to sequence RNA in single cells has given scientists an unprecedented level of resolution in studying rare cell types. However, current approaches are designed to deal with a large number of cells, making it difficult to work with small samples. New research, published in Nature Methods on February 14, has described a technique using machine vision to detect cells and make single-cell RNA sequencing more efficient at a smaller scale. Read More
Bio-Rad develops antidaratumumab antibodies for drug monitoring
Bio-Rad Laboratories has launched a range of antidaratumumab antibodies that are specific for daratumumab (Darzalex) and inhibit the binding of the drug to its target, CD38. These highly specific and high-affinity recombinant antibodies are suitable for bioanalysis and drug monitoring of daratumumab and its biosimilars, according to the company. Read More
mRNA-based therapeutics pioneer innovation in the biopharmaceutical industry
In the age of COVID-19, many novel therapeutics have been brought to the forefront, most notably mRNA-based therapies. This technology has been used in two of the most prominent COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the U.S. under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization. As a result, some companies are expanding mRNA-based technology to apply it to other therapies while further strengthening its use in vaccines. Read More
Solid tumors targeted with investment into innovative therapies
Solid tumors are particularly difficult to treat due to their ability to evade detection by the immune system. And even if these tumors are detected, immune cells often struggle to efficiently attack them at their core, leading to continued growth. Despite these roadblocks, companies such as 2seventy bio, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Transgene are rising to the challenge through collaborations and investments into technology to treat solid tumors. Read More
Creating an opening for treatments into the brains of mice
The cellular barrier that protects the brain also has the unfortunate effect of preventing medical treatments from reaching areas of the brain where they are needed. This presents a major obstacle in developing new drugs to treat brain diseases. Now, in a study published in Nature Protocols, researchers describe an approach in mice to precisely open a gate in the barrier and deliver therapeutic agents. Read More
CAR T-cell therapy collaborations expand cancer treatment options
Considering the broad range of the causes of cancer and the heavy impact on patients, advanced and innovative treatments are essential to fighting it. One technology being explored for this purpose is CAR T-cell therapy, because it trains the body's immune system to specifically target cancerous cells, according to Cell and Gene Therapy Business Outlook, a sister publication of ScienceBoard. Some healthcare institutions are collaborating with companies to develop such technologies, including Celularity, Lonza, and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Read More
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