In 1933, geneticist Thomas Hunt Morgan won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for demonstrating that genes exist on chromosomes, which are passed down from parent to offspring. Ninety-one years later, researchers at Columbia University—the same school where Morgan conducted his award-winning fruit fly research—have found a gene that violates this cardinal rule.

After Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals cleared out its work on a clinical-stage cardiovascular candidate, the company is filling the blank space with two obesity assets, both set to enter the clinic in early 2025.

Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), which bind to RNA and prevent them from being translated into proteins, have gained popularity in recent years as a way to treat neurodegenerative diseases. However, getting these drugs into the brain has been challenging, currently requiring invasive infusion directly into the cerebrospinal fluid.

Designing a clinical trial is hard work. Silicon Valley tech company Medable is hoping to make it easier with their newly launched Medable Studio, an all-in-one platform for configuring, translating, validating and launching Medable’s software solution into clinical trials.

Kezar Life Sciences is dropping its unpromising phase 1 solid tumor drug as the biotech goes all-in on its lead autoimmune hepatitis program.

Oncology-focused CRO Pi Health has added a new chef to its executive kitchen by appointing Alex Morozov, M.D., Ph.D., as the company’s first chief medical officer.

Despite izokibep maintaining its newfound winning streak in the clinic, Acelyrin is no longer focusing on its former lead asset as part of a strategic pivot that will see a third of its workforce shown the exit.

Ovid Therapeutics already revealed last month that it was trimming back its headcount as the company navigates an unexpected setback for the Takeda-partnered epilepsy med soticlestat. Now, the biotech has confirmed that it’s halting work on its preclinical programs, including an intravenous (IV) formulation of its seizure drug in order to save cash.

Rivus Pharmaceuticals has plumped up the prospects of its fat-busting, muscle-sparing drug candidate, reporting a primary endpoint hit in a phase 2a trial of people with obesity-related heart failure.

Artificial-intelligence-powered drug designer Absci has joined up with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on a project to co-develop as many as six potential antibody therapies in oncology.