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A snapshot of a key brain receptor in action might advance the understanding of disease processes in Huntington’s disease and allow scientists to identify new treatments, researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) hope. Their work, published in the journal Nature, describes how the neurotransmitter glutamate binds to…

Researchers have created the first freely available data network — called HDNetDB — that aims to advance research into Huntington’s disease and speed up drug discovery for the incurable condition. The approach, described in an article in the journal Scientific Reports, particularly focuses on the complex molecular workings…

Wave Life Sciences will start two Phase 1b/2a clinical trials to investigate the safety and tolerability of its products WVE-120101 and WVE-120102 in Huntington’s disease patients. The trials will also look at the therapies’ effectiveness. “Wave’s PRECISION-HD program is the first to target the underlying cause of Huntington’s disease…

Huntington’s patients who are taking Xenazine for the twitching condition known as chorea can switch without concern to the newly approved Austedo, according to Austedo’s maker, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. A Phase 3 clinical trial showed that the switch was safe and that Austedo (deutetrabenazine) did a better job of controlling chorea than…

A sluggish metabolism in the cells of the striatum, a brain region essential for motor function control, is associated with disease severity in Huntington’s patients, while a higher metabolism in other brain regions seems to be associated with more severe motor symptoms in patients, according to researchers. These findings…

Mutations of the MSH3 gene may be associated with the progression of Huntington’s disease, according to a British study. The gene could become a biomarker for the disease, and scientists may be able to develop Huntington’s therapies around it, the researchers from University College London and Wales’ Cardiff University said.

Mitoconix Bio has secured $20 million in financing to continue developing MTC-1203 as a treatment for mitochondrial impairment in Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Several pharmaceutical companies and medical-related venture-capital funds participated in the financing. They include Aril Bioscience, OrbiMed, Remiges Ventures and the Dementia Discovery Fund. “We are very…

Ionis Pharmaceuticals has completed enrollment of the Phase 1/2a study evaluating the safety, tolerability, properties and movement within the body of Ionis-HTTRx in patients with Huntington’s disease (HD). Patients who complete the randomized, placebo-controlled, dose escalation study (NCT02519036) will be eligible to enroll in an open-label…

Researchers have identified a variant in the gene MSH3 that is linked with Huntington’s disease (HD) progression. The study, “Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington’s disease progression: a genome-wide association study,” was published in the journal The Lancet Neurology. TRACK-HD was a prospective and observational study which…

Inhibiting the activity of an enzyme preserved the movement capabilities of mice with Huntington’s, slowed the progression of the disease and extended the animals’ lives, according to a study. The dSETDB1/ESET enzyme can disrupt a mechanism that controls normal gene expression, the researchers discovered. Alterations in that expression, along with…