Asher Mullard

Ottawa

Science Journalist at Freelance

Freelance science journalist, covering drugs, clinical trials, biotech, pharma and more. Writes for Nature, The Lancet, The New Scientist, and others.

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Articles

Back to the drawing board for anhedonia drugs

1 week ago | nature.com | Asher Mullard

NEWS 16 April 2025 Johnson & Johnson has discontinued development of aticaprant for depression with anhedonia, a blow to hopes for drugs for ‘domains’ of psychiatric disorders. Psychiatric drug developers have for years been pointing to kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) antagonists as the poster children for a new era in psychiatric medicine.
Back to therapeutic modality basics

1 week ago | nature.com | Asher Mullard

AN AUDIENCE WITH 16 April 2025 Andy Plump, Takeda’s head of R&D, discusses the company’s evolving pipeline, therapeutic modalities, and upheaval in biotech, the NIH and the FDA. A decade in to Andy Plump’s overhaul of Takeda’s R&D strategy, the plan is still evolving. Before Plump joined Takeda, the company was a small-molecule-focused organization.
FDA approves siRNA drug for haemophilia prophylaxis

3 weeks ago | nature.com | Asher Mullard

NEWS IN BRIEF 02 April 2025 Sanofi and Alnylam’s fitusiran (Qfitlia) has secured FDA approval for routine prophylaxis to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes in adult and paediatric patients 12 years of age and older with haemophilia A or B, with or without factor VIII or IX inhibitors.
Oral IL-23-blocking peptide racks up phase III wins in inflammatory disease

3 weeks ago | nature.com | Asher Mullard

NEWS IN BRIEF 01 April 2025 Protagonist Therapeutics and its partner Johnson & Johnson have reported four phase III wins for their IL-23 receptor targeted peptide icotrokinra in plaque psoriasis, as well as a phase II success in ulcerative colitis. The partners expect to submit the oral anti-inflammatory peptide to the FDA later this year for a first possible approval.
New antibiotic for urinary tract infections nabs FDA approval

3 weeks ago | nature.com | Asher Mullard

NEWS IN BRIEF 31 March 2025 The FDA has approved GSK’s gepotidacin (Blujepa) for uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTIs) in female adults and paediatric patients 12 years of age and older.
Macular degeneration focused firm eyes the clinic after series B

1 month ago | cen.acs.org | Asher Mullard

Character Biosciences has lined up $93 million to support clinical trials for two potential drugs that could provide much needed options for patients with common degenerative eye diseases. The firm's series B fundraising was co-led by aMoon and Luma Group. "We're on the precipice of something really special," says Character CEO Cheng Zhang.
‘Why is it that nobody can reproduce anybody else’s findings?’

1 month ago | pubs.acs.org | Asher Mullard

Monday, March 17, 2025 Please be aware that pubs.acs.org is undergoing maintenance from Saturday February 1 to Monday Febraury 3, that may have an impact on your experience. During this time, you may not be able to access certain features like login, purchasing single articles, saving searches or running existing saved searches, modifying your e-Alert preferences, or accessing Librarian administrative functions. We appreciate your patience as we continue to improve the ACS Publications platform.
Wrestling with the RAS cancer drug pipeline

1 month ago | nature.com | Asher Mullard

AN AUDIENCE WITH 14 March 2025 Alice Shaw, Chief of Strategic Partnerships at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the newly launched Center for RAS Therapeutics. KRAS, an oncogene that is mutated in around 20% of tumours, is a major cancer conundrum. For decades, researchers thought that it was too smooth to drug, until a team found a hidden toehold on one form of the protein.
Bluebird Bio’s cut-price sale highlights challenges for gene therapy field

1 month ago | nature.com | Asher Mullard

NEWS IN BRIEF 10 March 2025 Bluebird Bio and its three approved lentiviral gene therapies are being acquired by investment firms Carlyle and SK Capital for less than US$30 million. The biotech had a market capitalization of just under $70 million before the deal, down from a peak valuation of over $10 billion in 2018. Its fall showcases the difficulties that many gene therapy companies are facing in the commercialization of their products.
Induced proximity pushes beyond protein degraders, as first RIPTAC moves into the clinic

1 month ago | nature.com | Asher Mullard

NEWS 28 February 2025 Halda Therapeutics has started a clinical trial of its first-in-modality RIPTAC drug HLD-0915 in prostate cancer, to see if bifunctional drugs can provide tissue-specific activity. Halda has advanced the next wave of induced proximity drugs into the clinic, expanding the case for bifunctional molecules that act by sticking two proteins together.