In $1B deal, AbbVie buys psychedelic depression drug from Gilgamesh
AbbVie announced they will acquire Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals’ lead psychedelic compound, bretisilocin, for up to $1.2 billion. The agreement follows Gilgamesh’s recent release of positive data from their Phase 2a trial to treat individuals with major depressive disorder, and reinforces the field’s excitement for a safe and effective psychedelic option to treat psychiatric disorders. Only around 50 percent of people with depression and 60 percent of people with post traumatic stress disorder respond to current antidepressants. Recent trials suggest psychedelics like psilocybin and MDMA may offer an alternative treatment for some patients. However, the path to FDA approval remains challenging, as exemplified by the rejection of Lykos Therapeutics’ MDMA drug last year, due to bias in clinical trial results when the patients are easily able to tell whether they’re taking the drug versus placebo. – Allison Whitten
New AI tool reveals how drugs kill tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), the world’s deadliest infectious disease, remains difficult to cure due to lengthy treatments and widespread drug resistance. A new study led by researchers at Tufts University introduced an AI-assisted tool called DECIPHAER, which decodes how TB drugs kill bacteria at the molecular level. Building on earlier work using high-resolution imaging of dying TB cells, the tool combines morphological profiling with transcriptional data to precisely identify a drug’s mechanism of action. In one example, it uncovered that a drug thought to target the bacterial cell wall instead disrupts the respiratory chain and energy production. Since the AI model can infer a drug’s mechanism from images alone, rather than relying on costly RNA sequencing, it offers a faster, more affordable path to mapping drug actions. By revealing how drugs attack TB infections, DECIPHAER could accelerate the design of effective multidrug regimens, shortening treatment and tackling resistant strains, with potential applications beyond TB to other infectious diseases and cancer. – Bree Foster
Everyday painkillers could be fueling antibiotic resistance
New research published in npj Antimicrobials and Resistance revealed that common painkillers such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen may accelerate the rise of antibiotic resistance, especially when used together. In experiments with Escherichia coli and the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, the painkillers significantly increased bacterial mutations, enabling the bacteria not only to resist ciprofloxacin but also multiple other antibiotic classes. The study also identified genetic mechanisms behind this effect, showing that some painkillers activate bacterial defenses that expel antibiotics. Given the widespread use of these medications, these findings raise urgent concerns about how non-antibiotic drugs contribute to resistance. Researchers stress that while these medications remain important, their interactions with antibiotics need closer scrutiny, calling for broader studies into how everyday medicines may undermine antibiotic effectiveness. – Bree Foster
Oral GLP-1 drug from Lilly inches closer to approval
On Tuesday, Eli Lilly released new data from their Phase 3 ATTAIN-2 trial testing their oral GLP-1 drug, orforglipron. The trial showed that patients who are overweight or obese and have type 2 diabetes lost an average of 10.5 percent of their body weight on the highest dose, and lowered their A1C levels by an average of 1.8 percent. The results come almost three weeks after the release of Lilly’s ATTAIN-1 trial results, which showed patients with obesity achieving an almost 12 percent reduction in body weight. However, Lilly stocks fell by 13 percent following that release, as analysts had hoped for weight loss closer to 15 percent. Lilly stated that the completion of ATTAIN-2 means they now have the full clinical data package needed to begin global regulatory submissions. "Orforglipron could help health care providers expand treatment options for patients who prefer oral therapies without compromising clinical results,” said Louis Aronne, an obesity specialist at Weill Cornell Medicine. – Allison Whitten
Replicate, Novo Nordisk partner on srRNA therapies for obesity and diabetes
Replicate Bioscience, a clinical-stage company developing next-generation self-replicating RNA (srRNA) technology, has announced a multi-year research collaboration with Novo Nordisk to create novel, scalable therapies for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other cardiometabolic diseases. Under the agreement, Novo Nordisk will gain a worldwide license to Replicate’s srRNA platform, while Replicate will receive research funding, up to $550 million in upfront and milestone payments, and tiered royalties on future sales. Replicate, founded to overcome the limitations of conventional mRNA, is also advancing a pipeline of srRNA vaccines and therapeutics, including its most advanced asset targeting inflammatory diseases, while Novo Nordisk continues to expand its leadership in chronic disease innovation. – Andrea Corona
Fresenius launches consortium to decentralize CAR-T therapy
Fresenius has launched the Easy workflow integration for gene therapy (EASYGEN) consortium, a public-private partnership backed by €8 million in EU funding, to decentralize CAR T cell therapy manufacturing and improve hospital workflows. Bringing together 18 organizations across eight countries, including academic and clinical leaders, the project aims to develop a modular, hospital-based platform that can produce personalized therapies in days rather than weeks. By enabling faster, localized manufacturing of CAR T therapies, the consortium could also accelerate clinical research and provide a framework to streamline development of other advanced cell and gene therapies in drug discovery. – Andrea Corona
