Drug Discovery

The Coronavirus Immunotherapy Consortium (CoVIC) analyzed antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 that may offer an advantage over traditional antibodies. Originally discovered by Twist Bioscience, the antibodies were found to have potent effects on multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants. One antibody candidate TB202-3, demonstrated binding to diverse SARS-CoV-2 variant mutations in pseudovirus assays, indicating this therapeutic antibody may be effective in treating many strains of COVID-19.

The deal is designed to meet Allarity’s needs for current and future commercial production of dovitinib, its renal cell carcinoma therapy candidate, and to support company’s planned 2021 NDA filing.

A new study shows TAK-981, a potent and selective inhibitor of SUMOylation, induces IFN1 signaling and protects the IFN1 pathway from inactivation within tumors. The inhibitor activates T cells and dendritic cells that present antigens to the adaptive immune system, in both mouse models and in cell lines. The activity of the potential cancer drug depends on the IFN1 pathway and adaptive immunity to suppress tumor growth. Combined with anti-PD1 antibody TAK-981 demonstrates prolonged survival in tumor-bearing mice and increased activation of natural killer cells and CD8 expressing T cells.

The need to uncover effective COVID-19 treatments remains imperative, as case counts remain steady eighteen months into the pandemic. Recent findings point to unique antibodies produced by llamas—nanobodies—as a promising treatment. The small, stable, antibodies—which could potentially be delivered as a nasal spray—target the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and show efficacy in the Syrian golden hamster model of COVID-19.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine discovered how PADI4 and HIF-1 work to promote formation of blood vessels that feed a cancer’s growth. Studies in mice found that tumors lacking PAD14 were smaller, and not as well vascularized than tumors in control animals. The results indicate that inhibiting the activity of either one or both proteins could represent a novel therapeutic strategy for patients with advanced liver cancer or triple-negative breast cancer.

A new mouse study by researchers at City of Hope and Menzies Health Institute Queensland at Griffith University may provide hope for HIV treatment. The researchers report they have developed an anti-HIV protein that suppressed HIV levels in the bone marrow, spleen, and brain of mice and prevented replication.

If gene’s activity can be altered, relief could potentially be provided to eczema patients by helping the skin make more oils and lipids to moisturize itself. Researchers led by University of Texas UT Southwestern dermatologists report that a common inflammatory skin condition may stem from poorly regulated sex hormones.

Using a mouse model of lung cancer, researchers showed that the immune-modulating functions of radiation therapy are due to anti-immunosuppressive factors secreted by the club cells that line airways in the lungs. These club cell factors inhibit the highly potent immunosuppressive cells myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), which tumors often recruit to help them evade antitumor immune responses, greatly improving the effectiveness of FDA-approved PD1 immunotherapy.

Through the partnership, whose value was not disclosed, AbCellera’s platform will identify therapeutic antibodies against up to six targets—to be selected by Moderna—by searching and analyzing natural immune responses. Moderna and AbCellera are not disclosing which therapeutic areas the antibodies will address. “What I can say is that it's not a collaboration that's restricted to infectious disease,” AbCellera CEO and co-founder Carl Hansen, PhD, told GEN Edge.

Having shown it is possible to treat an antibiotic-resistant infection in vulnerable zebrafish with specially targeted bacteriophages, the goal for researchers is to transfer this therapy to the clinic to begin saving human lives.