Scientists at Egenesis Inc. have transplanted kidneys from genome-edited pigs into cynomolgus monkeys that remained functional for long periods after transplantation. The monkeys, whose own kidneys were removed during the surgery, survived for a median of 176 days after receiving one pig kidney. Maximal survival was just over 2 years. The data were published today in Nature. Egenesis CEO Mike Curtis told reporters that the study has achieved the longest survival to date “using clinically translatable immunosuppression … longer survival has been achieved using really aggressive immunosuppression that really isn’t clinically translatable.”

For individuals who develop an unexpected psychosis, there is something to be said for testing them for autoimmune antibodies. And something against. At the 36th Congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) this week, the topic was worth a controversy session, where speakers presented the pros and cons of the approach. Currently used tests have a specificity of 99%. But as Ester Coutinho, consultant neurologist at the University of Coimbra, pointed out, the validity of diagnostic tests depends on the prevalence of the disorder one is looking for as well. Coutinho estimated that autoimmune psychoses account for 1% of psychoses overall.

There are several pan-PIM kinase inhibitors in development for cancer indications, but startup Mysthera Therapeutics AG hopes to become the first biotech company to develop them in the autoimmune diseases space, having secured $3.5 million in seed capital from founding investor Forty51 Ventures.

Precede Biosciences Inc. emerged from stealth having raised $57 million in seed and series A financing to fund its genome-wide platform. The blood-based platform detects and provides critical insight into the biological activity of genes and pathways in diseased tissue to improve care and development of new therapeutics.

Synthetic, multi-epitope peptide vaccines are becoming an attractive universal influenza vaccine strategy. Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics LLC has created LHNVD-105, an influenza vaccine candidate consisting of unconjugated multi-epitope influenza peptides.

Atomwise Inc. has nominated a development candidate focused on TYK2 inhibition, discovered by leveraging its proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) drug discovery platform, Atomnet.

Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibition is a provenly effective strategy for the treatment of B-cell malignancies with several compounds approved such as ibrutinib, acalabrutinib or zanubrutinib. BTK also plays a central role in immunity and has thus emerged as a potential therapeutic target in autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.