Pyxis CEO Lara Sullivan has struck a deal with her former employer, Pfizer, that adds two preclinical therapies to the biotech’s pipeline as well as a license to the pharma’s ADC platform to develop more programs....

INDICATION: Depression Mouse studies suggest agonizing CB1 could help treat depression. In a mouse model of depression, optogenetic activation of synaptic circuits involving cholecystokinin (CCK)-positive neurons in the basal lateral amygdala and dopamine D2 receptor...

TECHNOLOGY: Targeting domains; other Circular single-stranded DNA (CSSD)-based PTK7-targeting aptamers could be used to deliver cancer therapies. The aptamers consist of CSSD engineered to target PTK7 -- a protein expressed on many cancers -- and...

Researchers at The Rockefeller University have identified a role for CCK-expressing neurons in initiating responses to SSRIs for depression and manipulated the neurons to recapitulate the drugs' effects. The findings could lead to faster-acting antidepressants...

In the latest link between the GI tract and the CNS, a team from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine has identified the synaptic organizers CADM1 and CADM2 as targets in the gut-brain axis...

TECHNOLOGY: Targeting domains A DNA-based “lock-and-key” system that targets pairs of receptors could be used for cell type-specific delivery of therapeutic siRNAs. The system consisted of a hairpin DNA “key” and two receptor-specific aptamer “locks,”...

Data from 22 evaluable patients with recurrent ovarian cancer in the dose-expansion portion of an open-label, U.S. and Spanish Phase I trial showed that the recommended Phase II dose of 2.8 mg/kg IV PF-06647020 every...

Investors and others watching data coming from the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting were quick to pan overall survival data from a Phase I study of single-agent Rova-T rovalpituzumab tesirine in recurrent small cell...

Indication Target/marker/pathway Summary Licensing status Publication and contact information Cancer Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) PTK7 protein tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7; CCK4) Studies in mice and patient samples suggest inhibiting PTK7 could be useful for...

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) has disclosed details about the first library of therapeutics in its Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules program ( see "Repurposing pharma compounds"). The compounds provided by...