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Optogenetics: Start-Ups Head For The Light

 
• By Monya Baker

Optogenetics – technology to control neurons with light – has swept through basic neuroscience research. Efforts to commercialize optogenetics are complex, but a spunky group of start-ups plan to develop therapies using the technology.

If flash gathered cash, optogenetics technology would be rolling in dough. The first paper showing that mammalian neurons could be readily engineered to respond to light was reported in 2005. In 2010, Nature Methods named it its method of the year. In 2013, the coveted Brain Prize went to a half-dozen scientists who pioneered the technology. Thousands of basic science labs use optogenetics to control cells with light, and its transformation of research is routinely described as revolutionary.

The standard version of the technique starts with the gene for a light-sensitive protein called an opsin, usually channelrhodopsin2 (ChR2), a version of which makes swimming algae move toward light....

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Final Chance To Have Your Say: Take Scrip's Reader Survey This Week

 
• By Eleanor Malone

Editor’s note: This is your final call to participate in the survey to better understand our subscribers’ content and delivery needs. The deadline is 20 September.

Shape Our Content: Take The Reader Survey

 
• By Eleanor Malone

Editor’s note: We are conducting a survey to better understand our subscribers’ content and delivery needs. If there are any changes you’d like to see in the coverage topics, content format or the method in which you receive and access Scrip, or if you love it how it is, now is the time to have your voice heard.

Galapagos Expands Point-Of-Care CAR-T Study To The US

 
• By Andrew McConaghie

CEO Paul Stoffels said gaining US clearance for an IND for its novel CAR-T product was demanding, but now opens up a pathway towards a pivotal study starting in 2025.

Analysts Split On Eisai’s Chances Of Changing EU Regulator’s Mind On Leqembi

 
• By Andrew McConaghie

A final rejection of Leqembi could also spell the same fate for Lilly’s rival drug but public outcry and demand for Alzheimer’s therapies might force the regulator’s hand

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Korea Q1 Roundup: Mixed Earnings, Gearing For Possible US Tariffs

 
• By Jung Won Shin

South Korean biopharma companies report a mostly solid first quarter, marked by US growth for original drugs, with several also making preparations for possible US pharma tariffs.

In Brief: Nicox Extends Cash Runway As Kowa Advances NCX 470 In Japan

 
• By Sushmita Panda

Eye drug is already in Phase III trials elsewhere, with results due in Q3. Nicox could earn up to a further €24.5m in milestones and royalties from Kowa alliance.

GSK’s Bet On Spero’s Oral cUTI Antibiotic Poised To Pay Off With New Phase III Data

 
• By Joseph Haas

Spero and partner GSK have Phase III non-inferiority data to support approval of tebipenem as the first oral antibiotic for complicated urinary tract infections.