Merck KGaA, Darmstadt (Germany)

Modeling the potential effect of cabamiquine-pyronaridine for chemoprevention against Plasmodium falciparum malaria

ABSTRACT Preventive treatment (chemoprevention) is a key intervention for reducing the burden of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in children. The impact of the current widely used drug combination, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine-amodiaquine (SP-AQ), is challenged by emerging drug resist...

Transient receptor potential channel activation targets multiple stages of the schistosome parasite

Schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease caused by infection with parasitic blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma , affects more than 250 million people worldwide. Currently, patients rely on a single medicine, praziquantel (PZQ), discovered half a century ago. To combat dru...

Becoming the bull : Structural insights and engineering strategies for ultralong CDR ‐ H3 paratopes from cattle

Cattle produce a subset of antibodies (Abs) with unique architecture. These immunoglobulins feature an ultralong CDR-H3 (uCDR-H3) composed of up to about 70 amino acids that protrudes from the scaffold and folds into a distinct stalk-and-knob structure. The knob is a disulfide-ri...

Tearing Down Scientific Boundaries: Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry 2026

The Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry (FiMC) was held in Münster from March 24 th to 27 th as the largest international Medicinal Chemistry conference in Germany. Welcoming more than 240 participants from around 20 countries, it was a vibrant conference, celebrating the community...

Assessing drug-induced liver injury liabilities in human and animal hepatocytes under static and perfused spheroid culture conditions

Abstract Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) remains a major challenge in drug development, highlighting the need for reliable in vitro tools to assess hepatotoxicity and improve translation from animal to human studies. Models using hepatocytes from preclinical species are also nee...

Antibody framework engineering enables augmented cytokine receptor signaling capacities of bispecific single domain antibody-based IL-21 mimetics

In this work, we developed bispecific antibody (bsAb)-derived surrogate agonists which mimic the function of IL-21 by targeting the IL-21 receptor composed of IL-21 R (CD360) and IL-2 Rγ (CD132). For this, antigen-specific VHHs (variable domains of the heavy chain of heavy-chain-...

INFLUENCE OF COMBUSTOR UNSTEADINESS ON THE AEROTHERMAL LOAD OF A HIGH-PRESSURE TURBINE STAGE USING SCALE-RESOLVING CFD SIMULATIONS

Abstract Aerothermal interaction between the combustor and the high-pressure turbine is critical for engine efficiency. Standard steady-state methods fail to capture the highly unsteady flow features at the combustor-turbine interface, leading to uncertainties in thermal load pre...