Seaside Therapeutics, a small biotech, and Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche have announced a partnership to develop drugs for fragile X syndrome and autism.

The past few years have seen an unprecedented number of clinical trials for experimental drugs to treat autism-related disorders, most notably for fragile X syndrome. But as the trials progress, scientists are calling for better methods to measure the drugs’ effectiveness.

Clinical trials for fragile X drugs should include a behavioral therapy component, says a parent of a child with the disorder.

A promising approach to treating fragile X syndrome could benefit people even after the critical window of early brain development, and alleviate core symptoms of autism, according to two studies published this month.

Researchers have identified a new mechanism that may underlie a runaway cell signaling pathway in fragile X syndrome. The results were published 22 January in Nature Neuroscience.  

A compound that boosts inhibitory signals in the brain could treat hyperactivity and excitability in mice that model fragile X syndrome, according to a study published 8 November in Developmental Neuroscience.

The ten notable papers picked by SFARI staff describe superb contributions that span the breadth of autism research from molecules to behavior. But we recognize that ten other articles might have been selected without loss of enthusiasm or excitement.

Swiss drugmaker Novartis plans to close its neuroscience research facility in Switzerland, but research on fragile X drugs will continue.

A drug that blocks a type of receptor at the junctions between neurons reverses repetitive behaviors in a mouse model of autism, according to a new study.

Some forms of autism are caused by too many proteins at the synapse, the junction between neurons, whereas other forms result from too few, according to a study published 23 November in Nature.