Inês Martins, PhD, managing science editor —

Strongbridge Biopharma recently received a second patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office covering the use of Recorlev (levoketoconazole) for the treatment of Cushing’s syndrome. The patent (No. 9,918,984) is titled “Methods and Compositions for Treating Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Other Conditions” and will be active until Jan. 10,…

Thanks to a $10 million endowment from the Li Weibo Charitable Foundation in China, the University of Massachusetts Medical School will soon be able to launch a new institute dedicated to the study of rare diseases such as Cushing’s disease. Li Weibo, the organization’s founder and the parent of a child…

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has received two grants from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to develop nonpeptide, oral somatostatin agonists for congenital hyperinsulinemia and new therapies for Cushing’s disease. The two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants, totaling $2.4…

Five European countries have agreed to Verona Pharma’s plan to begin enrolling patients in a Phase 2b clinical trial of RPL554 as a maintenance treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. The trial will be conducted in the United Kingdom, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. Verona expects to start…

The United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recently approved Daxas (roflumilast), developed by AstraZeneca, as a treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The new indication could potentially benefit about 122,000 adults in the U.K. who are estimated to be eligible to receive Daxas, according…