🧠 This Week in Immunology: Light Therapy for Crohn’s, Skin Disease Declared a Priority, and a $9.5B Biotech Acquisition

Stay up to date with the latest developments in immunology—spanning first-in-human trials, public health milestones, and multi-billion dollar immunology expansions:

💡 PhotoPill launches a clinical trial for its IBD-Cap capsule in Crohn’s disease—offering non-invasive, drug-free light therapy for flare-up management.

🌍 The World Health Organization officially declares skin disease a global public health priority—impacting over 2 billion people and calling for urgent action.

💊 Bambusa doses the first patient in its Phase 1 trial for BBT002 and expands U.S. IND clearance for BBT001—targeting multi-organ inflammatory pathways.

✅ NICE recommends mirikizumab for Crohn’s patients unresponsive to biologics—45% achieved remission at one year in Phase 3 trials.

🔬 Enthera publishes data for Ebrasodebart—demonstrating mucosal healing by targeting TMEM219 in ulcerative colitis models.

🧴 LEO Pharma begins a Phase 2a trial for delgocitinib cream in chronic PPP—building on approvals for hand eczema treatment.

💸 Kamari Pharma raises $23M to develop its TRPV3 inhibitor KM023—now entering Phase 1b for rare genetic skin diseases like Olmsted syndrome.

🧬 Recludix and Sanofi progress oral STAT6 inhibitor REX-8756—triggering a $50M milestone, with an IND filing expected in late 2025.

🤝 Sanofi to acquire Blueprint Medicines in a $9.5B deal—adding Ayvakit and two pipeline immunology assets to its growing portfolio.

📢 Stay Ahead in Immunology Research!
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#Immunology #CrohnsDisease #UlcerativeColitis #LightTherapy #SkinHealth #GlobalHealth #Sanofi #BiotechNews #PsoriasisCare #STAT6Inhibitor #ClinicalTrials #LucidQuest #ImmunologyUpdates

Sixty years after its discovery as the first human tumour virus, Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-specific therapies and vaccines have entered clinical trials. These might not only be applicable for EBV-associated malignancies, where the virus was originally discovered, but also to immunopathologies, including the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis, which might be triggered in susceptible individuals by primary EBV infection. This Review discusses the surprisingly large spectrum of diseases that EBV seems to cause, as well as which of these might be treated by the therapeutic approaches that are currently being developed or are already clinically applied. New pharmacological inhibitors, antibody therapies, adoptive T cell therapies and active vaccinations are beginning to offer possibilities to target the various EBV infection programmes that are associated with different diseases. These novel developments might allow us to specifically target EBV rather than its host cells in virus-associated pathologies. Sixty years after the discovery of the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), Münz discusses new developments in the immunobiology of the first discovered human tumour virus, including vaccines and the role of EBV in the initiation of autoimmune diseases, especially multiple sclerosis.

B-cell receptor (BCR) complexes are expressed on the surface of a B-cell and are critical in antigen recognition and modulating the adaptive immune response. Even though the relevance of antibodies has been known for almost a hundred years, the antigen-dependent activation mechanism of B-cells has remained elusive. Several models have been proposed for BCR activation, including cross-linking, conformation-induced oligomerization, and dissociation activation models. Recently, the first cryo-EM structures of the human B-cell antigen receptor of the IgM and IgG isotypes have been published that validates the asymmetric organization of the BCR complex. Here, we carry out extensive molecular dynamics simulations to probe the conformational changes upon antigen binding and the influence of the membrane lipids. We identify two critical dynamical events that could be associated with antigen-dependent activation of BCR. First, antigen binding causes increased flexibility in regions distal to the antigen binding site. Second, antigen binding alters the rearrangement of IgM transmembrane helices, including the relative interaction of Igα/Igβ that mediates intracellular signaling. Furthermore, these transmembrane rearrangements lead to changes in localized lipid composition. Our work indirectly supports the conformational-change induced models of BCR activation and contributes to the understanding of the antigen-dependent activation mechanism of BCRs. Extensive multiscale modeling of B-cell receptor in the presence and absence of a model antigen in a complex membrane environment revealed the dynamical events throughout the receptor and surrounding membrane upon antigen binding to the receptor.

University of Melbourne’s Professor Laura Mackay, has been presented with the National Health and Medical Research Council Elizabeth Blackburn Investigator Grant Award for being the highest-ranking female applicant to receive an NHMRC Investigator Grant.

L’équipe de Nathalie Labrecque a découvert que la signalisation NOTCH est essentielle à la différenciation des lymphocytes T CD8+, optimisant leur réponse immunitaire aux infections.

So interesting study!

Please check out our paper published in Nature that identifies CREM as a key checkpoint limiting CAR NK cell function. We show that CRISPR knockout of CREM significantly enhanced anti-tumor activity, implicating a broader role in NK & T cell regulation. Huge congrats to Hind Rafei and our incredible collaborators whose hard work made this possible. Excited to explore the translation of this approach to the clinic.

https://lnkd.in/gpwXArzV
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Welcome to Saturday Hashtag, a weekly place for broader context.

🔥 Hot off the press!

✨ Super excited to share our latest review just published in the top-tier Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research! Springer Nature!

👉 Dive into the world of Natural Killer Cells: the Immune Frontline against Circulating Tumor Cells.

📖 Read it here & enjoy: https://lnkd.in/eesgH_JR

✅ It’s open access—free to read and share!
Let’s spread the science! 🚀

Natural killer (NK) play a key role in controlling tumor dissemination by mediating cytotoxicity towards cancer cells without the need of education. These cells are pivotal in eliminating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from the bloodstream, thus limiting cancer spread and metastasis. However, aggressive CTCs can evade NK cell surveillance, facilitating tumor growth at distant sites. In this review, we first discuss the biology of NK cells, focusing on their functions within the tumor microenvironment (TME), the lymphatic system, and circulation. We then examine the immune evasion mechanisms employed by cancer cells to inhibit NK cell activity, including the upregulation of inhibitory receptors. Finally, we explore the clinical implications of monitoring circulating biomarkers, such as NK cells and CTCs, for therapeutic decision-making and emphasize the need to enhance NK cell-based therapies by overcoming immune escape mechanisms.

👏👏👏 Doryan Masmoudi, Martin Villalba, Catherine Alix-Panabières
CHU de Montpellier, Recherche et innovation – CHU de Montpellier, Renan Targhetta, Samir JABER
Liquid Biopsy LCCRH Lab - Laboratoire Cellules Circulantes Rares Humaines 🩸
European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS)
PANCAID, GUIDE.MRD
OncoDaily
Mauro Castelli

#CTC #NK #PrecisionMedicine #LiquidBiopsy #ImmuneEscape

Genome-wide CRISPR screen in human T cells reveals regulators of FOXP3

The RBPJ–NCOR repressor complex is identified as a negative regulator of FOXP3…

Fibrosis: cross-organ biology and pathways to development of innovative drugs

This Review integrates viewpoints of biologists and physician-scientists on core…