Researchers from Texas A&M University Health Center announced that they identified two forms of estrogen that may have the ability to reduce inflammation and protect nerve fibers in progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). They believe that this protective effect mirrors the remission seen in many pregnant women with MS, when estrogen levels peak naturally. 

These findings open new possibilities for hormone-based therapies to slow or alleviate the most debilitating form of MS. Check it out: https://www.jni-journal.com/article/S0165-5728(25)00179-1/fulltext

Roche announced that it secured FDA clearance for its blood-based biomarker test for Alzheimer’s disease.

The test is a minimally invasive Elecsys pTau181 test developed in collaboration with Eli Lilly. It’s designed to help assess early signs of Alzheimer’s and other causes of cognitive decline in primary care settings for patients 55 years and older, by ruling out Alzheimer’s-related amyloid pathology.

Until now, Alzheimer's biomarker testing has largely been limited to specialty settings, such as neurology. By enabling use in primary care, this new test has the potential to significantly broaden patient access to minimally invasive testing and help preserve specialist resources. Here’s more: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/roches-elecsys-ptau181-becomes-the-only-fda-cleared-blood-test-for-use-in-primary-care-to-rule-out-alzheimers-related-amyloid-pathology-302581668.html

insitro, a machine learning-based drug discovery and development company, announced a new phase of a collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb to discover new molecules with potential treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

This is an extension of a previous collaboration that will leverage insitro’s AI-enabled ChemML™ platform to design new medicines for a novel ALS target that was identified in the first biological evaluation phase and may provide up to $20 million in new funding for the one-year extension. 

While not quite as big as AbbVie’s $2 billion deal with Gilgamesh,,the successful delivery of a new therapeutic from this collaboration could have an aggregate value of more than $2 billion in discovery, development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments to insitro (in addition to royalty payments). Check it out: https://www.biospace.com/deals/bms-deepens-als-alliance-with-insitro-puts-2b-on-the-line

Did you know that quitting smoking during midlife or later can still help slow age-related cognitive decline?

According to a new study published in the journal The Lancet Healthy Longevity, study participants who quit smoking, even later in life, scored higher on cognitive tests compared to those who continued smoking in their later years. 

The data analyzed in the study showed that smokers who quit saw a memory decline rate slow by about 20%, while verbal fluency decline rates slowed by about 50% when compared to those who continued smoking. Here’s more: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666756825000728