An experimental one-time gene therapy from biotech company uniQure continues to show signs of slowing Huntington’s disease four years after treatment, offering potentially important evidence that gene therapy could alter the course of a devastating inherited neurological disorder for which no approved disease-modifying treatment currently exists. The treatment, called ifezuntirgene...
One CRISPR Infusion Cuts Dangerous Cholesterol for a Year in Early Human Trial
An experimental gene-editing therapy has produced substantial and lasting reductions in dangerous blood fats after only a single treatment, offering early evidence that CRISPR technology could eventually transform how some severe cholesterol disorders are treated. Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic reported that a one-time infusion of the experimental therapy CTX310...
U.S. Accelerates Shift Away From Animal Testing as AI and Human-Based Models Reshape Drug Research
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is accelerating a major transformation in biomedical research, launching new initiatives intended to reduce reliance on animal testing while expanding the use of human cells, organoids, organs-on-chips, artificial intelligence and computational models in drug development. The effort represents one of the federal...
California’s Insurance Crisis Spreads Beyond Wildfire Zones as Homeowners Run Out of Options
California’s property insurance crisis is expanding beyond the mountainous and heavily wooded communities traditionally considered most vulnerable to wildfires, leaving homeowners in relatively low-risk suburban neighborhoods struggling to obtain conventional coverage. An analysis of insurance data found that major insurers are increasingly declining to write policies across large portions of...
Telix Makes $2.35 Billion Bet on ITM to Build a Global Powerhouse in Cancer Radiopharmaceuticals
Telix Pharmaceuticals has agreed to merge with Germany’s ITM Isotope Technologies Munich in a transaction potentially worth $2.35 billion, a major expansion designed to strengthen Telix’s position in the rapidly growing market for radioactive medicines used to diagnose and treat cancer. The combination brings together two complementary businesses. Australia-based Telix...