The Week of

Novartis made a significant move in Alzheimer’s disease by signing a licensing and collaboration deal with China-based SciNeuro Pharmaceuticals, committing up to $1.5 billion in milestone and royalty payments, as well as $165 million upfront, giving Novartis global rights to a next-generation antibody program designed to improve delivery across the blood–brain barrier.

SciNeuro’s investigational antibody, thought to utilize its proprietary shuttle platform to target toxic amyloid-beta clumps while improving brain penetration, could differentiate itself from existing therapies if it progresses successfully through clinical trials. 

According to company reps, Novartis will collaborate on early-stage development before assuming responsibility for later-stage clinical testing and worldwide commercialization. Here’s more: https://scineuro.com/scineuro-and-novartis-enter-into-a-licensing-and-collaboration-agreement-for-next-generation-therapeutics-to-treat-alzheimers-disease/

Merge Labs, a brain-computer interface (BCI) startup co-founded by Sam Altman, announced it raised $252 million in seed funding from a high-profile syndicate that includes OpenAI, Bain Capital, and Gabe Newell.

The capital will support development of BCI technology aimed at linking human brains directly with computers – a frontier many see as critical for future human-AI integration and enhanced cognitive capability. 

Unlike traditional invasive neural implants, Merge Labs is pursuing non-implant approaches that leverage ultrasound and molecular interfaces to read and write neural signals with high bandwidth, potentially enabling broader and safer applications. 

With this funding, the company plans to accelerate research that could span from restoring neurological function to fundamentally new modes of human-machine interaction. Check it out: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-15/altman-s-merge-raises-252-million-to-link-brains-and-computers

A new study was published in the journal Cell, which shed light on how the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and genetic risk factors work together to trigger multiple sclerosis (MS). 

Researchers found that in people carrying the MS-associated HLA-DR15 gene variant, EBV infection causes B-cells to display fragments of myelin proteins on their surface. This abnormal presentation can mislead the immune system into attacking the brain’s myelin, the protective sheath around nerve fibers. This is a hallmark of MS.

Although nearly everyone is infected with EBV at some point in life, only a small fraction develops MS, suggesting that genetics play a key enabling role. 

The study revealed how the virus and a high-risk gene variant can synergistically trigger autoimmune responses, offering a clearer mechanistic explanation for how environmental and genetic factors combine to initiate the disease. Here’s more: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)01495-3?_returnURL=httpslinkinghub.elsevier.comretrievepiiS0092867425014953showalltrue

Did you know that the concept of the brain–computer interface (BCI) was first introduced in the early 1970s by University of California researcher Jacques Vidal?

In a landmark 1973 paper, Vidal coined the term brain–computer interface and proposed that electrical signals from the brain could be used to directly communicate with computers, without relying on muscles or peripheral nerves.

Using electroencephalography (EEG), Vidal demonstrated that brain signals could be detected, analyzed, and translated into basic computer commands, such as moving a cursor or selecting objects. While primitive by today’s standards, these experiments proved a revolutionary idea: the human brain could interact directly with machines.

That early breakthrough laid the foundation for modern BCIs, which today power everything from paralysis-assistive devices to next-generation neural implants. 

What began as a theoretical experiment over 50 years ago has evolved into one of the most transformative frontiers in neuroscience, medicine, and human–machine interaction.