Reframe Daily: New wins in allergy, COVID antivirals, and gene editing + Christin's aspiration

Reframe Daily—curated by Christin Chong (neuroscience PhD, Buddhist chaplain, healthtech strategy consultant)—delivers optimistic and credible healthtech updates you won’t find in most popular news outlets, from sources scientists and healthcare providers read and trust.

Today in one sentence: a new antibody shrank nasal polyps and eased symptoms in a 24-week trial; Paxlovid cut COVID virus levels faster than monoclonal antibodies; prime editing fixed a common G6PD mutation in patient stem cells; tiny antibody fragments let PET scans track transplanted cells in mice; and scientists mapped how a gut bacterium weakens the gut lining, pointing to new ways to stop it. 

Christin’s note: sharing a video on the aspiration I hold with reframe at the end of this email. This begins a 100-video series (if you are on Farcaster and would like to join in video making with peer support, message me and I’ll add you to the group chat!)

Pop in the Discord to chat about today’s news → https://forms.gle/tN3oabFTsDF21VnS8

Weekly personal shares from Christin here →
http://christin.substack.com/

Good news: A new antibody cut polyp size and eased symptoms for people with severe chronic sinusitis with nasal polyps when added to standard steroid spray.

Stapokibart for Severe Uncontrolled Chronic Rhinosinusitis With Nasal Polyps.

Market readiness: 🙂🙂 (phase 2 randomized clinical trial; promising, but larger confirmatory trials and FDA review still needed). 

Good news: This head-to-head randomized trial found that one early outpatient COVID-19 treatment (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir) cut virus levels faster than two monoclonal-antibody options against Omicron, helping doctors pick what works best right now.

CT changes in a randomized trial comparing early therapies in an outpatient population at high risk of severe COVID-19 disease

Market readiness: 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂 (therapy compared here—nirmatrelvir/ritonavir—is already available in the US; the study refines choice rather than introducing a new product). 

Good news: Scientists precisely fixed a common G6PD mutation in patient-derived stem cells with prime editing. It’s an early lab step, but it shows a path toward curative gene therapies for a widespread enzyme disorder.

Precise correction of G6PD Viangchan mutation in iPSCs by prime editing strategy

Market readiness: 🙂 (preclinical, cell-culture work only so far). 

Good news: Researchers built PET tracers (nanobodies) and matching mouse strains to non-invasively track transplanted cells in living animals—tech that could make future cell therapies safer by letting doctors see where the cells go.

A pair of congenic mice for imaging of transplants by positron emission tomography using anti-transferrin receptor nanobodies

Market readiness: 🙂🙂 (successful in animals; needs human safety/feasibility studies).

Good news: Researchers clarified how Campylobacter concisus (a gut bacterium linked to bowel disease) damages the intestinal barrier, pointing to targets for new treatments or diagnostics.

Elucidating the role of Campylobacter concisus–derived factors in epithelial barrier dysfunction.

Market readiness: 🙂 (mechanistic basic science; identifies targets but no therapy yet). 

Thank you for taking the time to take care of yourself and your loved ones.