Radically different
Nature Medicine, Published online: 05 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04476-6
As presented at the American Diabetes Association Meeting: this randomized phase 2b trial in 230 adults with overweight or obesity shows that aleniglipron, an oral small-molecule GLP1-RA, led to up to 11.3% body-weight loss compared with placebo after 36 weeks of treatment.
Americans who have high-risk exposures to Ebola in the current outbreak in Central Africa will have access to an antibody treatment that has shown great promise in animal testing but hasn’t yet undergone a clinical trial to show whether it is efficacious in people, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Thursday.
The antibody treatment, known as MBP-134, is made by San Diego-based Mapp Biopharmaceuticals, with funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, an agency within HHS that helps develop medical countermeasures for rare and emerging diseases, and biological threats.
Otsuka’s Voyxact slowed the loss of kidney function after one year in patients with a chronic autoimmune kidney disease, but the benefit was less than expected and left room for competing treatments to perform better.
In a Phase 3 study, patients with IgA nephropathy, or IgAN, who received injections of Voyxact saw their kidneys lose function at an annualized rate of 3 points over one year compared to an annualized function loss of 7.6 points over one year for patients receiving a placebo, the Japanese drugmaker reported Thursday.
Kidney function was assessed with a lab test, called eGFR, that measures how well kidneys filter waste from the blood.
Nature Medicine, Published online: 04 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04441-3
After preclinical testing, a phase 1 trial involving three individuals with familial hypercholesterolemia demonstrated preliminary evidence for the safety and efficacy of AAV8-mediated LDL receptor gene therapy.
Nature Medicine, Published online: 04 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04435-1
In this feasibility clinical trial, the authors show that epidural stimulation of the cervical spinal cord safely improved strength, function and spasticity in seven people with arm hemiparesis.
At least 12 of my colleagues boarded planes to the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago last week to hear Charles Swanton of the Francis Crick Institute in London share results from the world’s first randomized trial on a multi-cancer early detection test.
The trial — a partnership between the U.K. National Health Service and Grail, which makes the Galleri MCED test — randomized 143,000 average English adults aged 50-77 to receive either usual care or MCED testing. The primary endpoint was reduction of stage 3 and 4 cancers across all cancer types.
Longevity startup NewLimit plans to launch its first clinical trial of a liver medicine after raising a staggering $435 million in new funding.
NewLimit announced its plans and Series C fundraising Tuesday. Founders Fund, the noted Silicon Valley venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, led the financing, which also included Thrive Capital, Lilly Ventures, and money from tech entrepreneurs Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross. The company is now valued at around $3.1 billion, according to co-founder and CEO Jacob Kimmel.
NewLimit was founded in 2021 by Coinbase CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong, former GV partner and bioengineer Blake Byers, and Kimmel, a stem cell biologist. The South San Francisco-based startup has been moving rapidly, and grabbing investors’ attention. This is the third time in the past year that the company has announced it has raised money from investors — first, a $130 million Series B round in May 2025, followed by another $45 million in October.