David Place

Basic innate immunology and infectious disease researcher turned inflammatory drug development scientist.

[Rezera @RezeraInc]

Today, we announced positive RESOLVE-2 clinical trial results. #Ruvonoflast + semaglutide combination was generally well tolerated and delivered significant additional hsCRP reductions vs semaglutide alone, supporting planned Phase 3 development in #PAD.
https://t.co/VdbVKayAkr

[Eric Topol @EricTopol]

The retatrudide randomized clinical trial for obesity is published @NEJM, confirming marked potency of this triple receptor GLP-1 drug (also agonist for 2 other receptors, GIP and glucagon). Up to 30% loss of body weight vs placebo.
https://t.co/OPsKFhcaIo

[WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute) @WEHI_research]

Uncovered: early molecular warning signs of inflammatory bowel disease reveal the condition can begin before symptoms appear and continue silently even when patients appear well.

Published in @ScienceMagazine.

🔗https://t.co/NQGcz38PqN

[Kanneganti Lab @KannegantiLab]

🚨Out today @J_Immunol: @rummansarkar, @ThiruKanneganti, and the team show that NAD+ depletion occurs in multiple lytic #cell death pathways, but restoring NAD+ selectively inhibits PANoptosis, providing a key link between #metabolic stress and PANoptosis:
https://t.co/FtfrTNc4nP

[Eric Topol @EricTopol]

Called Biomni, its performance surpassed LLMs it was assessed against and exhibited capability for diverse tasks that include drug repurposing, rare disease diagnosis, single-cell annotation, causal gene identification, molecular cloning, protein stability, design and orchestrating wet-lab experiments, and more

[BioAge @bioagelabs]

Today, we are pleased to announce that the first participant has been dosed in QUELL-CV, our Phase 2 proof-of-concept trial of BGE-102, BioAge's oral, once-daily, brain-penetrant NLRP3 inhibitor, in patients at elevated cardiovascular risk.

Inflammation is now recognized as a driver of cardiovascular events on par with elevated LDL cholesterol — yet, unlike cholesterol, it remains largely undertreated. A key driver of age-related chronic inflammation is the NLRP3 inflammasome, an immune sensor that sits upstream of the signals like hsCRP, IL-6, and IL-1β that are associated with  inflammatory cardiovascular risk. By inhibiting NLRP3, BGE-102 is designed to turn that inflammation down at its source.

The trial in brief:
- Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled
- Participants: ~160 adults with obesity, elevated systemic inflammation, and at least one additional cardiovascular risk factor
- Three once-daily oral dose levels of BGE-102 vs. placebo, over 12 weeks
- Primary endpoint: percent change in hsCRP
- Topline data anticipated in the second half of 2026

QUELL-CV builds directly on our Phase 1 results, in which BGE-102 achieved median hsCRP reductions of 86% on a well-tolerated, once-daily oral dose — a profile that is potentially best-in-class. With a second proof-of-concept study in diabetic macular edema planned to start mid-2026, we're working to demonstrate the broad potential of this drug.

Read the release: https://t.co/BX1vYVLg23

[Eric Topol @EricTopol]

A very impressive study for how we could prevent lung cancer more than 5 years before it is diagnosed. Using machine learning, discovery of a 14-plasma protein signature of risk that predicts responsiveness to an antibody therapy to interleukin, IL-1β
Validated across 8 cohorts
@CellCellPress @CharlesSwanton
https://t.co/qpPtgs1dH0

[NEJM @NEJM]

Presented at the 15th European Lupus Meeting:

In patients with SLE without advanced lupus nephritis, obinutuzumab plus standard therapy was superior to placebo plus standard therapy in conferring and sustaining a clinically meaningful reduction in disease activity over 52 weeks. Full phase 3 ALLEGORY trial results: https://t.co/KykhH0rJ3L

#SLEuro | @SLEuroSociety

[Florian Rieder MD @IBD_FloMD]

Today, #Agomab announced the positive topline results from the Phase 2a clinical trial of ontunisertib, a GI-restricted inhibitor of ALK5, for the potential treatment of Fibrostenosing Crohn’s Disease (FSCD). Big milestone. ⁦@HelmsleyTrust⁩ ⁦ https://t.co/LFMJhdR5gb

[Michael Honigberg, MD, MPP @mchonig]

Excited to share our work @ESC_Journals #EJPC led by @KelvinS_MD @CFAndersenMD w/ @aklfahed

Lp(a) + post-cath outcomes in 5,118 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 undergoing cor angio 🫀 @MGHHeartHealth :

Lp(a) >=175 nmol/L ➡️ ⬆️ subsequent MI, revasc, ISR, need for PCI after CABG

https://t.co/hc0pdKOdky

[Waggoner Lab @LabWaggoner]

Integrated live-cell imaging of LPS-stimulated human blood monocytes revealed that a large % remained viable & contributed negligible IL-1β, while <10% underwent NLRP3 activation, GSDMD pyroptosis, & secreted IL-1β @NatImmunol 🇯🇵🇧🇪
https://t.co/B4777SSm98 Paradigm changing!!

[Pradeep Natarajan @pnatarajanmd]

Excited to participate in a ph1 RCT of novel oral NLRP3i (selnoflast) with @david_place_ @kparuchuri P. Libby & colleagues @genentech being developed for inflammatory CVD risk #AHA25

[Dr Rebecca Coll @Rebecca_Coll]

Delighted to share that our study with @bioagelabs NLRP3 inhibitors is now online @JExpMed ! Together with @Geyer_lab @benedicte_py and @Innate_immuno we characterise BAL-0028 and BAL-0598. Excited to see the new NLRP3 biology they will reveal!

[The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology @LancetGastroHep]

New research - Anti-TL1A antibody, afimkibart, in moderately-to-severely active ulcerative colitis (TUSCANY-2): a multicentre, double-blind, treat-through, multi-dose, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 2b trial

https://t.co/bGbTI9HgIo

#GITwitter #MedTwitter #IBD

[Jonathan Kagan @jkagan1]

NLRP3 inflammasomes can assemble on most organelles. A beautiful study by Hafner et al demonstrate the flexibility of organelles that can support inflammasome activation. Kudos to the authors on an intriguing study.
https://t.co/JlRlb31ynA
@HafnerIva @BorsicElvira

[Art Schuermans @artschuermans]

Thrilled to share our review on clonal hematopoiesis (and CHIP) in cardiovascular diseases!

@mchonig and I discuss CHIP's potential role as prognostic factor and therapeutic target in atherosclerotic disease, heart failure and arrhythmias

https://t.co/TxXTvwTkbo @NatRevCardiol

[NEJM @NEJM]

Presented at #ISNWCN:

In the REGENCY trial, obinutuzumab, a humanized type II anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, plus standard therapy provided significantly better renal responses than standard therapy alone in patients with lupus nephritis. Full trial results: https://t.co/sRfh55IvDW

[Ivan Zanoni @Lo_Zanzi]

#NoTimeToDie! @inflammasomelab, Holley, Monteleone &co show @NatImmunol that cells that die by #pyroptosis, or #necroptosis, are crowned with F-actin filopodia that makes them visible by dendritic cells via CLEC9A to initiate adaptive immunity! https://t.co/hDSyuxwmIi

[Alex Weber, immunologist researcher in Tübingen @Innate_immuno]

Interesting new research on #NLRP3 #Inflammasome regarding unique"molecular glue" NEK7 degrader approach, spearheaded by colleagues @Novartis to which we had the pleasure of contributing! Checkout the in vitro and in vivo data on @biorxiv_immuno via https://t.co/HSTzQsOJYt

[David Place @david_place_]

Positive Ph3 results for Gazyva in patients with Lupus Nephritis (REGENCY study): https://t.co/kfX8GJUXIF