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NIH leadership churn deepens — NINDS director exits
The National Institutes of Health lost another senior leader as NINDS director Walter Koroshetz announced his departure, adding to a series of exits that leave several institutes under interim...
St. Jude publishes a new method to detect base‑editor off‑targets: safety tool
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital released a new method to better identify small off‑target edits produced by base editors, addressing a key safety bottleneck in precision genome editing. The...
Off-targets exposed: genome-wide base-editor maps
Researchers released two high-resolution methods this week that sharpen detection of off-target edits produced by DNA base editors. A tailored genome-wide assay (CHANGE-seq-BE) provides sensitive,...
Adenine editors refined — fewer bystander edits
A new study used directed evolution and extended guide RNAs to produce adenine base editors (ABEs) with improved targeting precision and reduced bystander editing. The team combined enzyme...
RNA rewriting goes multi-base: single-strand deaminase platforms
Two papers this week advance programmable RNA editing through single-strand deaminases. One Nature Biotechnology report describes a platform that simultaneously rewrites multiple bases within a...
Antifungal micelles deliver: combinatorial therapy shows efficacy
Nature Biotechnology and related work report converging advances in antifungal delivery using self-assembling peptide micelles. One study shows a host-defense peptide mimic that self-assembles...
Inherited resilience: rare variant lowers leukemia risk
A large GWAS meta-analysis of more than 640,000 individuals identified a rare noncoding variant, rs17834140‑T, that reduces clonal hematopoiesis (CHIP) and lowers blood-cancer risk. The protective...
CDMO pact: Transcenta licenses continuous biomanufacturing tech
Transcenta Therapeutics granted EirGenix a non‑exclusive license to its HiCB (highly intensified continuous bioprocessing) platform, including continuous perfusion and integrated hybrid...
Holiday dealmaking: big licensing moves for oncology pipelines
Several biopharmas executed high‑value licensing deals over the holidays to shore up oncology pipelines. AbbVie paid upfront and milestone consideration to gain ex‑China rights to Zelgen’s...
AML resistance tackled: palbociclib plus venetoclax shows promise
Oregon Health & Science University researchers reported that combining venetoclax, a BCL2 inhibitor, with palbociclib, a CDK4/6 inhibitor used in breast cancer, produced stronger and more durable...
T‑cell engineering reduces off-target cross-reactivity
A team led by Cabezas‑Caballero described engineered co‑signaling receptors that improve T‑cell precision and reduce off‑target cross‑reactivity. The platform pairs antigen recognition with...
NIH leadership gap widens as NINDS director exits
Walter Koroshetz, M.D., director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), departed the NIH, adding to a string of recent leadership exits across the agency. The...
RNA editing retooled: single‑strand deaminases enable multi‑base rewrites
Researchers published complementary platforms that expand control over RNA sequences by harnessing single‑strand deaminases. Two papers in Nature Biotechnology describe methods that simultaneously...
Base editing precision: genome‑wide off‑target maps and evolved adenine editors
Two Nature Biotechnology studies reported January 2 that aim to tighten base‑editing safety and targeting. One group introduced CHANGE‑seq‑BE, a sensitive, genome‑wide assay to profile base‑editor...
Antifungal micelles deliver combination therapy – Nature Biotechnology proof
A Nature Biotechnology paper reports a self‑assembling host‑defense peptide mimic that forms antifungal micelles to co‑deliver drugs and boost efficacy. The study showed that codelivery within...
Markets heat: Insilico jumps after Hong Kong listing — Psithera nets $47.5M
Market moves signaled investor appetite for AI and immune‑focused biotechs. BioCentury reported Insilico’s shares posted strong gains after its Hong Kong listing, while Psithera (formerly Psivant)...
AbbVie buys ex‑China rights to DLL3 trispecific – $1.1B package
AbbVie agreed to pay up to $1.1 billion to gain ex‑China rights to Zelgen’s trispecific T‑cell engager alveltamig (ZG‑006), including a $100 million up‑front fee and more than $1 billion in...
Pharma trims failing programs: J&J stops eczema candidate; Genmab exits bispecific
Johnson & Johnson and Genmab announced program discontinuations over the holiday period. J&J terminated a phase 2b atopic dermatitis study of JNJ‑95475939 after an interim analysis failed to meet...
Third CRL sinks Outlook’s bevacizumab outlook — stock tumbles
Outlook Therapeutics received a third FDA complete response letter for ONS‑5010, its bevacizumab formulation for wet age‑related macular degeneration; the company’s stock plunged after the...
Nido Biosciences closes after mid‑stage failure in rare neurology trial
Nido Biosciences announced it will shut down after its lead neurology candidate failed to move the needle in a phase 2 study, ending five years of operation. The company cited the midstage readout...