This article was originally published here

Lab Invest. 2020 Dec 9. doi: 10.1038/s41374-020-00520-2. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Disorders involving injury to tissue stem cells that ensure normal tissue homeostasis and repair have potential to show unusually devastating clinical consequences. Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) is one condition where relatively few cytotoxic immune cells target skin stem cells to produce significant morbidity and mortality. By analogy, SARS-CoV-2 is a vector that initially homes to pulmonary stem cells that preferentially express the ACE2 receptor, thus potentially incurring similarly robust pathological consequences. In older individuals, stem cell number and/or function become depleted due to pathways independent of disease-related injury to these subpopulations. Accordingly, pathologic targeting of stem cells in conditions like aGVHD and COVID-19 infection where these cells are already deficient due to the aging process may have dire consequences in elderly individuals. A hypothesis is herein advanced that, as with aGVHD, lung stem cell targeting is a potential co-factor in explaining age-related severity of COVID-19 infection.

PMID:33299126 | DOI:10.1038/s41374-020-00520-2

Go here to read the rest:
COVID-19 and graft-versus-host disease: a tale of two diseases (and why age matters) - DocWire News

TipRanks

Investing is all about profits, and part of generating profits is knowing when to start the game. The old adage says to buy low and sell high, and while its tempting just to discount cliches like that, theyve passed into common currency because they embody a fundamental truth. Buying low is always a good start in building a portfolio.The trick, however, is recognizing the right stocks to buy low. Prices fall for a reason, and sometimes that reason is fundamental unsoundness. Fortunately, Wall Streets analysts are busy separating the wheat from the chaff among the markets low-priced stocks, and some top stock experts have tagged several equities for big gains. These stocks are trading low now but the reasons are not necessarily bad for investors.Weve used the TipRanks database to pull up the data and reviews on two stocks that are priced low now, but may be primed for gains. Theyve been getting positive reviews, and despite their share depreciation, they hold Buy ratings and show upwards of 60% upside potential.Digital Media Solutions (DMS)We will start with Digital Media Solutions, an adtech company which connects online advertisers with customers through performance-based branding and marketplace solutions. DMS boasts a powerful consumer intelligence database, which it uses to fine-tune customer acquisition campaigns while offering advertisers accountability for the project budget.DMS went public in July of this year, via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, Leo Holdings. The combination took the DMS name for the ticker, and initiated trading at $10 per share. The stock has been volatile since, and is currently down 27% since it started trading.Digital advertising is a huge and growing sector, worth $100 billion in 2019 and expected to reach $130 billion by the end of next year. DMS has a solid piece of that cash cow, and the Q3 numbers demonstrate that. Quarterly revenue hit a company record, of $82.8 million, which was up 10% sequentially and 44% year-over-year. Of that total revenue, the company saw a gross profit of $25.1 million, for a 30% gross margin. All in all, DMSs first quarter as a publicly traded company showed strong results.Covering the stock for Canaccord is analyst Maria Ripps, who is rated 5 stars by TipRanks, and stands in the top 1% out of more than 7,100 stock analysts. The company saw meaningful volume growth from both new and existing clients, with particular strength from its auto insurance business along with the eCommerce, education, and non-profit verticals We continue to think investors will gradually come to appreciate DMS similarities with other leading digital marketing peers that trade at more premium valuations, and expect multiple expansion over time as the story becomes better understood, Ripps noted.To this end, Ripps rates DMS stock a Buy, and her $15 price target suggests an upside of 106% from the current share price of $7.20. (To watch Ripps track record, click here)Overall, DMS Moderate Buy consensus rating is based on 2 recent reviews, both positive. The stock has an average price target of $14, which indicates a 92% upside potential. (See DMS stock analysis on TipRanks)ViaSat, Inc. (VSAT)From digital advertising we move on to digital networking. ViaSat provides customers with high-speed broadband access through a secure satellite network system. The company serves both military and commercial markets, meeting the growing need for secure communications links.The anti-coronavirus shutdown policies have particularly hard on ViaSat. This may sound counterintuitive, as online networking has been busier than ever, but a large segment of ViaSats business comes from the airlines, and with air travel first grounded and still facing depressed travel volumes, ViaSats shares have yet to recover from their February/March swoon.On a positive note and one that is indicative of the essential nature of secure satellite communications in todays networked economy ViaSat reported $577 million in Q3 contract awards, representing a 29% yoy gain. For the year to date, the company has seen awards totaling $1.9 billion, which is up 5% from this time last year. The third quarter (the companys fiscal Q2) revenues and earnings were somewhat mixed, reflecting both the increase in contract awards and the decline in airline business. Revenues were $554 million, down 6% yoy, but up almost 4% sequentially. EPS was 3 cents per share, beating the predicted 5 cent loss by a wide margin.JPMorgan analyst Philip Cusick writes of ViaSat: [We] believe long-term growth levers remain intact highlighted by record segment backlog of $1.1b We view ViaSat as a satellite innovation leader and believe the companys future ViaSat-3 fleet will accelerate growth in satellite services over the coming years. At the same time, we see a long-term government systems tailwind driven by the companys radio portfolio, mobile broadband, and SATCOM.In line with his bullish comments, Cusick rates VSAT shares an Overweight (i.e. Buy), and his $60 price target implies ~72% upside on the one-year time horizon. (To watch Cusicks track record, click here)Overall, the stock has 5 recent reviews, including 3 Buys and 2 Holds. Shares are priced at $34.14, and the average price target of $55 suggests a 61% upside potential from that level. (See VSAT stock analysis on TipRanks)To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

See more here:
Avenoir Cosmetics Launches Cell Repair Serum - Clinical Strength to Enhance Skin Tone & Minimize Appearance of Sunspots, Blemishes, Discoloration,...

Even while legalization and regulations are in flux throughout the Americas region and around the globe, cannabis beauty is making tremendous progress.

The cannabis market is emerging very, very rapidly around the world, said Shane MacGuill, Senior Head of Nicotine and Cannabis at Euromonitor during a webinar last month reviewing the global cannabis industry across market sectors and showcasing the launch of the market research companys newest Passport Research System focus: cannabis. And he added,the market is currently heavily concentrated in US Canada.

This year2020was the year that both Amway and Avon launched CBD skin care. Avon made the announcement first. In April, as Cosmetics Design reported, the social-selling beauty maker announced plans for a new vegan skin care line that would include a CBD oil. And today, Avon has 3 CBD products in its portfolio: Green Goddess Facial Oil, Veilment CBD Soothing & Nourishing Body Cream, and Veilment CBD Nourishing Body Cream, all of which contain 100mg of CBD. Though as the online product descriptions note, our collection does NOT contain THC. The only high youll get is knowing your skin feels cool, calm and collected.

Amway, as Cosmetics Design reported, announced the launch of its new Artistry Skin Studio product collection in September 2020. And that product line now includes Artistry Studio Zen Daze Ahead Facial Oil +300 mg CBD.

Colgate also got involved in the CBD Beauty market this year. In January the company announced an acquisition deal to buy Hello Products and the following month, Hello launched its CBD product collection, as Cosmetics Design reported. Hello is best known for its oral care products but the brand also makes CBD lip balm, for instance.

Ayuna, a luxury skin care brand out of Spain, just launched the latest limited-edition product in its sought-after Terra collection at the start of November: Terra Bella.

There are no cannabinoids, no THC, no CBD in this new cream. But the Terra Bella face cream is formulated with a remarkable extract derived from cultured Cannabis Sativa stem cells, as Isabel Ramos, Chief Scientific Officer at Ayuna, tells Cosmetics Design.

And the ingredient does something truly extraordinary: it instigates communication between the skin microbiome and the brain, explains Ramos. This topical ingredient is, she says, the first known instance of a skin care input helping and demonstrating that microbiota are acting on [or affecting] how we feel.

As the Ayuna example illustrates, theres a lot more to cannabis beauty than the ever-enchanting CBD. In fact, the entire cannabis plant and a full range of cannabinoid molecules are shaping the future of this buzz-worthy cosmetics and personal care category.

In October, Jennifer Grant, a biomedical engineer turned beauty entrepreneur launched a clean skin care brand called empyri that relies on upcycled cannabis root at its hero ingredient. And not long before that news made headlines here on Cosmetics Design, the biotechnology company behind brands like Bissance and Pipette, announced having successfully scaled production of biotech CBG (one of many cannabinoids naturally occurring in cannabis) for use in skin care product formulations. So while CBD beauty is here to stay, theres much more to Cannabis Sativa and to cannabis beauty than this one molecule. Ready to learn more? Revisit all the top CBD beauty news from 2019 here on CosmeticsDesign.com.

Originally posted here:
CBD: the beauty ingredient trend that can't be stopped - CosmeticsDesign.com USA

After 15 years of unrelenting work, a team of scientists from Gladstone Institutes has now discovered a potential drug candidate for heart valve disease that works in both human cells and animals and is ready to move toward a clinical trial. Their findings were just published in the journal Science.

"The disease is often diagnosed at an early stage and calcification of the heart valves worsens over the patient's lifetime as they age," says Gladstone President and Director of the Roddenberry Stem Cell Center Deepak Srivastava, MD,who led the study. "If we could intervene early in life with an effective drug, we could potentially prevent the disease from occurring. By simply slowing the progression and shifting the age of people who require interventions by 5 or 10 years, we could avoid tens of thousands of surgical valve replacements every year."

This also applies to the millions of Americansabout one to two percent of the populationwith a congenital anomaly called bicuspid aortic valve, in which the aortic valve only has two leaflets instead of the normal three. While some people may not even know they have this common heart anomaly, many will be diagnosed as early as their forties.

"We can detect this valve anomaly through an ultrasound," explains Srivastava, who is also a pediatric cardiologist and a professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UC San Francisco (UCSF). "About a third of patients with bicuspid aortic valve, which is a very large number, will develop enough calcification to require an intervention."

Srivastava's research into heart valve disease started in 2005, when he treated a family in Texas who had this type of early-onset calcification. All these years later, thanks to the family's donated cells, his team has finally found a solution to help them and so many others.

A Holistic Approach in the Hunt for a Therapy

Members of the family treated by Srivastava had disease that crossed five generations, enabling the team to identify the causea mutation in one copy of the gene NOTCH1. Mutations in this gene cause calcific aortic valve disease in approximately four percent of patients and can also cause thickening of valves that trigger problems in newborns. In the other 96 percent of cases, the disease occurs sporadically.

"The NOTCH1 mutation provided a foothold for us to figure out what goes wrong in this common disease, but most people won't have that mutation," says Srivastava. "However, we found that the process that leads to the calcification of the valve is mostly the same whether individuals have the mutation or not. The valve cells get confused and start thinking they're bone cells, so they start laying down calcium and that leads to hardening and narrowing of the valves."

In the hunt for a treatment, the group of scientists chose a novel, holistic approach rather than simply focusing on a single target, such as the NOTCH1 gene.

"Our goal was to develop a new framework to discover therapeutics for human disease," says Christina V. Theodoris, MD, PhD, lead author of the study who is now completing her residency in pediatric genetics at Boston Children's Hospital. "We wanted to find promising therapies that could treat the disease at its core, as opposed to just treating some specific symptoms or peripheral aspects of the disease."

When Theodoris first joined Srivastava's lab at Gladstone, she was a graduate student at UCSF. At the time, they knew the NOTCH1 gene mutation caused valve disease, but they didn't have the tools to study the problem further, largely because it was very difficult to obtain valve cells from patients.

"My first project was to convert the cells from the patient families into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which have the potential of becoming any cell in the body, and turn them into cells that line the valve, allowing us to understand why the disease occurs," says Theodoris. "My second project was to make a mouse model of calcific aortic valve disease. Only then could we start using these models to identify a therapy."

One Drug Candidate Rises to the Top

For this latest study, the scientists searched for drug-like molecules that could correct the overall network that goes awry in heart valve disease and leads to calcification. To do so, they first had to determine the network of genes that are turned on or off in diseased cells.

Then, they used an artificial intelligence method, training a machine learning program to detect whether a cell was healthy or sick based on this network of genes. They subsequently treated diseased human cells with nearly 1,600 molecules to see if any drugs shifted the network in the cells enough that the machine learning program would reclassify them as healthy. The researchers identified a few molecules that could correct diseased cells back to the normal state.

"Our first screen was done with cells that have the NOTCH1 mutation, but we didn't know if the drugs would work on the other 96 percent of patients with the disease," says Srivastava.

Fortunately, Anna Malashicheva, PhD, from the Russian Academy of Sciences, had collected valve cells from over 20 patients at the time of surgical replacement, and Srivastava struck up a fruitful collaboration with her group to do a "clinical trial in a dish."

"We tested the promising molecules on cells from these 20 patients with aortic valve calcification without known genetic causes," Srivastava adds. "Remarkably, the molecule that seemed most effective in the initial study was able to restore the network in these patients' cells as well."

Once they had identified a promising candidate in cells in a dish for both NOTCH1 and sporadic cases of calcific aortic valve disease, Srivastava and his team did a "pre-clinical trial" in a mouse model of the disease. They wanted to determine whether the drug-like molecule would actually work in a whole, living organ.

The scientists confirmed that the therapeutic candidate could successfully prevent and treat aortic valve disease. In young mice who had not yet developed the disease, the therapy prevented the calcification of the valve. And in mice that already had the disease, the therapy actually halted the disease and, in some cases, led to reversal of the disease. This finding is especially important since most patients aren't diagnosed until calcification has already begun.

"Our strategy to identify gene networkcorrecting therapies that treat the core disease mechanism may represent a compelling path for drug discovery in a range of other human diseases," says Theodoris. "Many therapeutics found in the lab don't translate well to humans or focus only on a specific symptom. We hope our approach can offer a new direction that could increase the likelihood of candidate therapies being effective in patients."

The researchers' strategy relied heavily on technological advancements, including human iPS cells, gene editing, targeted RNA sequencing, network analysis, and machine learning.

"Our study is a really good example of how modern technologies are facilitating the kinds of discoveries that are possible today, but weren't not so long ago," says Srivastava. "Using human iPS cells and gene editing allowed us to create a large number of cells that are relevant to the disease process, while powerful machine learning algorithms helped us identify, in a non-biased fashion, the important genes for distinguishing between healthy and diseased cells."

"By using all the knowledge we gathered over a decade and a half, combined with the latest tools, we were able to find a drug candidate that can be taken to clinical trials," he adds. "Our ultimate goal is always to help patients, so the whole team is very pleased that we found a therapy that could truly improve lives."

About the Research Project

The paper, "Network-based screen in iPSC-derived cells reveals therapeutic candidate for heart valve disease,"was published online by Science on December 10, 2020.

Other authors include Ping Zhou, Lei Liu, Yu Zhang, Tomohiro Nishino, Yu Huang, Sanjeev S. Ranade, Casey A. Gifford, Sheng Ding from Gladstone; Aleksandra Kostina from the Russian Academy of Sciences; and Vladimir Uspensky from the Almazov Federal Medical Research Centre in Russia.

The work was funded by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and the National Center for Research Resources. Gladstone researchers also received support from the Winslow Family, the L.K. Whittier Foundation, The Roddenberry Foundation, the Younger Family Fund, the American Heart Association, several programs and fellowships at UCSF, residency programs from Boston Children's Hospital and the Harvard Medical School, the Uehara Memorial Foundation, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.

About Gladstone Institutes

To ensure our work does the greatest good, Gladstone Institutes focuses on conditions with profound medical, economic, and social impactunsolved diseases. Gladstone is an independent, nonprofit life science research organization that uses visionary science and technology to overcome disease.

Media Contact: Julie Langelier | Assistant Director, Communications | [emailprotected] | 415.734.5000

SOURCE Gladstone Institutes

https://gladstone.org

Go here to see the original:
A Potential Therapy for One of the Leading Causes of Heart Disease - PRNewswire

Call to be held on Thursday, December 17th at 11:00am EST

Go here to read the rest:
Timber Pharmaceuticals Hosts Business Update Conference Call

NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWire – CannAssist International Corp. (OTCQB: CNSC), a biotechnological pharmaceutical and wellness company marketing the Xceptol consumer brand, today announces it has selected the corporate communications expertise of the InvestorBrandNetwork (“IBN”), a multifaceted financial news and publishing company for private and public entities.

Read more from the original source:
InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN) Coverage Initiated for CannAssist International Corp.

JERSEY, Channel Islands, Dec. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quotient Limited (NASDAQ:QTNT), a commercial-stage diagnostics company (the Company), today announced that it received a request from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for additional testing data regarding the 510(k) application for the Initial Serological Disease Screening Microarray (SDS) and MosaiQ instrument. The data the FDA has requested relates to specific individual performance characteristics of the assays on the microarray. In response to this request, the Company intends to re-submit its application, with the additional data requested by the FDA, in early 2021. Following that submission, the Company is targeting to receive the FDA 510(k) clearance in mid-2021.

Read more from the original source:
Quotient Limited Provides Status Update on the Initial SDS Microarray and MosaiQ Instrument for the US Market

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Dec. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kane Biotech Inc. (TSX- V:KNE; OTCQB:KNBIF) (the “Company” or “Kane Biotech”), a biotechnology company engaged in the research, development and commercialization of technologies and products that prevent and remove microbial biofilms, is pleased to announce the commercial launch of its DermaKB™ shampoo, shampoo bar and scalp detoxifier as the first products in their new skin care line.

See the original post here:
Kane Biotech Announces Launch of New Human Health OTC DermaKB™ Product Line

--Presentations highlight efficacy of TRV045 in animal models of neuropathic pain and epilepsy

Read the original post:
Trevena, Inc. Announces Presentations Highlighting Novel S1P1 Receptor Modulator at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 59th Annual...

Follow this link:
Bespoke Extracts to Sponsor Professional Mixed Martial Artist Cody Law in Bellator 254

MORRISVILLE, N.C., Dec. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Syneos Health® (Nasdaq:SYNH), the only fully integrated biopharmaceutical solutions organization, today announced that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Synteract, a leading full-service CRO focused on the rapidly growing, emerging biopharma segment.

More:
Syneos Health Completes Acquisition of Synteract

HOUSTON, Dec. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Salarius Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: SLRX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing potential new medicines for patients with pediatric cancers, solid tumors, and other cancers, today announced the receipt of a $0.8 million payment as part of an expected $1.7 million in payments under its contract with the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). The payments are part of an original non-dilutive grant of up to $18.7 million awarded in 2016 to support Salarius’ operations and development of its lead drug candidate, seclidemstat, for the treatment of Ewing sarcoma and other cancers. Seclidemstat is a reversible LSD1 inhibitor being studied in two clinical trials — one trial in relapsed/refractory Ewing sarcoma, a rare and deadly pediatric bone cancer, and a second trial in advanced solid tumors (AST).

Follow this link:
Salarius Pharmaceuticals Receives First Installment of $1.7 Million in Payments from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas

NEW YORK and MAINZ, GERMANY, December 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) today announced that the New England Journal of Medicine has published safety and final efficacy results from the pivotal Phase 3 trial of BNT162b2, their mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate. In the trial of 43,448 participants, who were 16 years and older, 21,720 of whom received BNT162b2 and 21,728 placebo, the two-dose regimen of 30 mg BNT162b2, which was given 21 days apart, was well-tolerated and demonstrated vaccine efficacy of 95% against COVID-19.

Read this article:
Pfizer and BioNTech Announce Publication of Results from Landmark Phase 3 Trial of BNT162b2 COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate in The New England Journal of...

LYON, France, Dec. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Article 223-16 of general regulation of French Autorité des Marchés FinanciersLyon – France

See original here:
Monthly information related to total number of voting rights and shares composing the share capital – November 30, 2020

Results provide insight into potential disease modifying effects of CNM-Au8 for the treatment of ALS patients Results provide insight into potential disease modifying effects of CNM-Au8 for the treatment of ALS patients

More here:
Clene Nanomedicine Presents Blinded Interim Results from RESCUE-ALS Phase 2 Study at the 31st International Symposium on ALS/MND

NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Better Choice Company (OTCQB: BTTR) (“Better Choice”), an animal health and wellness company, is pleased to announce that Michael Young (Chairman), Damian Dalla-Longa (EVP Capital Markets & Corporate Development), and Rob Sauermann (EVP, Finance & Strategy) will present to a live virtual audience at the LD Micro Main Event (XIII) on December 14, 2020 at 4:20 p.m. ET.

The rest is here:
Better Choice Company to Present at LD Micro Main Event Virtual Conference on December 14th

DUBLIN, Ireland and KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., Dec. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nabriva Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: NBRV), a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the commercialization and development of innovative anti-infective agents to treat serious infections, today announced that it has commenced a public offering of its ordinary shares (or pre-funded warrants in lieu thereof). All of the ordinary shares (or pre-funded warrants in lieu thereof) in the offering will be sold by Nabriva Therapeutics. The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.

Read this article:
Nabriva Therapeutics Announces Proposed Public Offering

BOCA RATON, Fla., Dec. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Micron Medical (“Micron” or “the Company”), a privately-held, commercial stage medical device company preparing to launch a revolutionary minimally invasive neurostimulator for treating patients suffering with an overactive bladder (OAB), today announced that it will be presenting at the 13th Annual LD Micro Main Event virtual investor conference on Monday, December 14, at 3:00 PM EST / 12:00 PM PST.

View original post here:
Micron Medical to Present at the 13th Annual LD Micro Main Event Virtual Conference

GUILFORD, Conn., Dec. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BIOASIS TECHNOLOGIES INC–Bioasis Technologies Inc. (TSX.V:BTI; OTCQB:BIOAF) (the “Company” or “Bioasis”), a pre-clinical, research-stage biopharmaceutical company developing its proprietary xB3™ platform technology for the delivery of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier (“BBB”) and the treatment of central nervous system (“CNS”) disorders in areas of high unmet medical need, including brain cancers and neurodegenerative diseases, is pleased to announce that all resolutions were passed by requisite majority at its annual general meeting (“AGM”) held earlier today in New Haven, Conn., United States.

See more here:
Bioasis Announces Annual General Meeting Results

LYON, France and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ERYTECH Pharma (Nasdaq & Euronext: ERYP), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies by encapsulating therapeutic drug substances inside red blood cells, announced today that CEO, Gil Beyen, will present at the JMP Securities Hematology Summit Tuesday December 15th at 1:30pm EST /06:30pm GMT /7:30pm CET. The format will be a “fireside chat” discussion hosted by  JMP Securities' Reni Benjamin.

Read the original post:
ERYTECH to Present at the JMP Securities Hematology Summit