thebiostories

Phase 1 Clinical Trials of MK-7602: A Promising New Chapter in the Fight Against Malaria ⏱ In 30 Seconds ✓ MK-7602 is a first-in-class experimental antimalarial drug jointly developed by WEHI and MSD . ✓ It blocks two essential malaria parasite enzymes, plasmepsin IX and plasmepsin X . ✓ Phase 1 studies found that MK-7602 was generally well tolerated in healthy volunteers and reached blood concentrations predicted to have antimalarial activity. ✓ The results mark an important transition from nearly a decade of laboratory research to early clinical development. From Laboratory Discovery to Human Trials For decades, malaria parasites have repeatedly evolved resistance to medicines that once transformed global malaria control, creating an urgent need for drugs that attack the parasite through entirely different biological mechanisms. In March 2026, researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) reported an important milestone in...

How WEHI Scientists Are Helping Defeat Malaria: From Fundamental Discovery to New Treatments ⏱ In 30 Seconds ✓ Malaria remains a major global health threat because parasites and mosquitoes continue to evolve resistance to existing control measures. ✓ For more than three decades, WEHI scientists have studied how malaria parasites invade, survive and reproduce inside human cells. ✓ These fundamental discoveries have revealed new biological vulnerabilities that can guide the development of medicines and vaccines. ✓ One result of this long research journey is MK-7602 , a first-in-class experimental antimalarial drug that has progressed into human clinical trials. Why Malaria Still Matters Malaria has been one of humanity’s deadliest infectious diseases for thousands of years. Although remarkable progress has been made over the past two decades, the disease still causes hundreds of thousands of deaths each year, with young children in sub-Saharan Africa carrying th...

🌏 Available in: English | 한국어 How Was Venetoclax Developed? The Australian Story Behind a Breakthrough Cancer Therapy ⏱ In 30 Seconds ✓ Venetoclax is a targeted cancer medicine that blocks BCL-2 , a protein that helps some cancer cells survive. ✓ Its development grew from decades of fundamental research into programmed cell death, or apoptosis . ✓ Scientists at WEHI played a key role in transforming BCL-2 from a biological discovery into a therapeutic target. ✓ Venetoclax is now used to treat several blood cancers, including chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and acute myeloid leukaemia . A Personal Note During my years at WEHI, I had the chance to see the later stages of the Venetoclax story unfolding around me, as clinical trials progressed and decades of research moved towards a treatment that could actually reach patients. I knew at the time that it was an important scientific achievement. But recently, I happened to read blogs where people with bl...

🌏 Available in: English | 한국어 베네토클락스는 어떻게 개발되었을까? 호주에서 시작된 혁신 항암제 이야기 ⏱ 30초 요약 ✓ Venetoclax 는 일부 암세포의 생존을 돕는 BCL-2 단백질을 선택적으로 억제하는 표적항암제입니다. ✓ 이 약은 세포자멸사(apoptosis) 에 대한 수십 년간의 기초연구에서 출발했습니다. ✓ 호주 멜버른의 WEHI 연구진은 BCL-2를 중요한 생물학적 발견에서 실제 치료 표적으로 발전시키는 데 핵심적인 역할을 했습니다. ✓ 현재 Venetoclax는 만성 림프구성 백혈병(CLL) 과 급성 골수성 백혈병(AML) 을 포함한 여러 혈액암 치료에 사용되고 있습니다. 저는 WEHI에서 연구하는 동안 Venetoclax의 임상시험이 진행되고, 오랜 연구 끝에 하나의 새로운 항암제가 실제 환자 치료로 이어지는 과정을 가까이에서 접할 수 있었습니다. 당시에도 그것이 중요한 성과라는 것은 알고 있었습니다. 하지만 얼마 전 우연히 혈액암 환자와 그 가족들이 서로의 경험을 나누는 블로그 글들을 읽으면서 Venetoclax를 조금 다른 시선으로 다시 생각하게 되었습니다. 연구자에게는 BCL-2, apoptosis, clinical trial 같은 말로 익숙한 약이 누군가에게는 다음 치료를 기대하게 해주는 희망일 수 있다는 생각이 들었습니다. 그래서 Venetoclax가 어떻게 개발되었는지 처음부터 다시 살펴보았습니다. 어떻게 멜버른의 한 연구실에서 시작된 BCL-2 연구가 수십 년 뒤 실제 환자에게 처방되는 항암제 Venetoclax로 이어졌을까? 그 이야기는 신약 개발에서 시작되지 않았습니다. 세포가 왜 살아남고, 왜 죽는지를 이해하려 했던 기초과학 연구에서 시작되었습니다. 암 연구의 방향을 바꾼 멜버른의 발견 이 이야기는 호주 멜버른에 위치한 Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Resea...

🌏 Available in: English | 한국어 Decoding Drug Names: Why “-mab,” “-nib” and “-clax” Aren’t Random Generic drug names may look complicated, but many contain clues about how the medicine works. ⏱ In 30 Seconds ✓ Generic drug names are created through internationally coordinated systems rather than chosen purely for marketing. ✓ Shared word fragments called stems can indicate a drug’s pharmacological family or mechanism. ✓ Names ending in -nib usually identify kinase inhibitors, while -toclax identifies BCL-2-family inhibitors. ✓ Older antibody medicines commonly end in -mab , although the WHO has introduced a new naming system for newly named antibodies. ✓ A stem provides a useful clue, but it does not reveal the complete target, indication, safety profile or route of administration. A Personal Note This article started with a question I asked myself: why do so many drug names seem to end in the same way? I knew names such as -mab , -nib and -clax w...