Drug Database
NI

NIK-127

✓ Approved

Kowa · Small Molecule · Small Molecule

What is NIK-127?

NIK-127 is a small molecule developed by Kowa. It is approved for therapeutic indications via unknown.

Drug Profile

CompanyKowa
Drug ClassSmall Molecule
RouteUnknown
StatusApproved
Sources: ClinicalTrials.gov, Kowa

Therapeutic Indications

NIK-127 is developed for 1 unique indication across 1 therapeutic area.

Therapeutic AreaConditionPhase
Gastrointestinal disordersDiarrhoea✓ Approved

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PubMedJournal of the American Pharmacists Association : JAPhA2026-07-25

Artificial intelligence and machine learning in pharmaceutical research and healthcare: Ethical challenges and a framework for responsible implementation.

Hajjo Rima R, Abusara Osama H OH, Sabbah Dima A DA, Zidan Rahaf R et al.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are transforming pharmaceutical research and healthcare by enabling analysis of large-scale biomedical data and supporting data-driven decision-making. However, their rapid integration has introduced significant ethical, governance, and implementation challenges that remain insufficiently synthesized within a unified framework. This work aims to synthesize the central ethical challenges and paradoxes associated with AI and ML in pharmaceutical and healthcare contexts and to develop a structured, actionable governance framework to guide responsible implementation. We conducted a narrative review using structured searches of PubMed/MEDLINE and Google Scholar (January 2015-February 2026). We screened peer-reviewed, English-language publications addressing AI/ML applications or associated ethical considerations and synthesized evidence thematically. A total of 127 studies were synthesized, revealing interconnected ethical challenges, including bias, accountability, privacy, and equity, affecting patient safety and trust. The literature clustered across pharmaceutical research, clinical decision support, and governance, informing a structured, ethics centered framework with three pillars including technical excellence and safety, robust governance and trust, and human-centered values, along with cross-cutting enablers. Successful integration of AI/ML into pharmaceutical research and healthcare requires addressing its inherent ethical paradox. By linking interconnected challenges to a structured, actionable governance framework, this study provides practical guidance for implementing trustworthy, equitable, and human-centered AI, with direct implications for patient safety, clinical practice, and policy.

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PubMedJournal of contaminant hydrology2026-07-25

Contaminants of emerging concern in Mediterranean groundwater: The more we analyse, the more diversity we observe.

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A review of case studies investigating contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in Mediterranean groundwater (2006-2024) highlights where there are few investigations or limited CECs analysed, there is important information missing on CEC diversity. This was evident from the relatively high diversity of CECs reported in the 30 publications on Spanish groundwaters, including 127 types of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), 36 pesticides and 26 industrial products. In comparison, publications from other Mediterranean countries were fewer (≤ 7/country, and ≤ 3/country for southern Mediterranean countries), with significantly lower CEC diversity in groundwater: PPCPs ≤79 types/country, pesticides ≤8 types/country, and industrial products ≤5 types/country. The high CEC diversity present in Spanish groundwater may be due to the large land surface area (28,051 km2) of overlapping high anthropogenic activities and soil properties that favor the infiltration of CECs to groundwater. However, these factors were also observed over large areas in France, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Italy (> 9900 km2). The contaminant diversity in groundwater is also affected by CEC characteristics. 43% of the PPCPs and 50% of the pesticides observed at high concentrations in groundwater (140-50,000 and 950-18,721 ng/L respectively) have relatively high infiltration indices (based on CEC adsorption coefficients and half-lives). The PPCPs concentrations also showed a relatively high positive correlation with water-solubility (r2 = 0.8). Whereas for industrial products, the infiltration index was only high for Bisphenol A. This review underscores the diversity of CECs present in groundwater, and a need for greater CECs investigation across all Mediterranean groundwaters.

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PubMedInsights into imaging2026-07-25

Multi-component radiological model based on intratumoral CT threshold segmentation for predicting visceral pleural invasion in lung adenocarcinoma ≤ 30 mm.

Sun Yuanxin Y, Chen Jing J, Wang Tingting T, Zhang Lu L et al.

This retrospective study aims to investigate the value of intratumoral computed tomography (CT) threshold segmentation in radiomics, deep learning (DL), and radiomics-DL combined models for predicting visceral pleural invasion (VPI) in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) ≤ 30 mm. Patients with invasive LUAD who underwent surgery and had preoperative thin-slice CT scans within four weeks were enrolled from two centers (n = 816). Patients from center 1 were divided into a training set (TS, n = 591) and an internal test set (ITS, n = 98) based on surgical time. Patients from center 2 constituted the external test set (ETS, n = 127). Solid, ground-glass, and peritumoral components were extracted using intratumoral CT threshold segmentation and peritumoral expansion methods. The radiomics model was a Random Forest Classifier; the DL model was a pre-trained Vision Transformer (ViT) fine-tuned on three components; the combined model integrated features from two pipelines. Model performance was evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity. Clinical utility and model interpretability were evaluated using decision curve analysis and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), respectively. Radiomics, ViT, and radiomics-ViT models achieved AUCs of 0.865, 0.858, and 0.895 in TS; 0.865, 0.844, and 0.852 in ITS; and 0.844, 0.816, and 0.823 in ETS, respectively. Radiomics-ViT model achieved the highest sensitivity, with ViT features contributing the most. A hybrid multi-component feature pipeline could serve as a reliable and highly sensitive tool for VPI prediction in LUAD ≤ 30 mm. The multi-component radiomics-ViT model achieved high sensitivity for VPI prediction in LUAD ≤ 30 mm, which is a promising tool for preoperative treatment design and prognostic assessment. CT attenuation-defined components remain underexplored in artificial intelligence (AI) models for VPI prediction. Solid, ground-glass, and peritumoral components enable AI models for VPI prediction. Multi-component inputs effectively capture tumor heterogeneity for VPI prediction in LUAD ≤ 30 mm.

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PubMedCancer letters2026-07-24

Targeting tumor cell-intrinsic POU4F1 enhances antitumor immunity and sensitizes tumors to immunotherapy in basal-like breast cancer by modulating macrophage recruitment and polarization.

Zhang Jiahui J, Miao Nanyan N, Guo Yunzhi Y, Liu Yixuan Y et al.

Immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment is a major driver of tumor progression and therapeutic resistance. Basal-like breast cancer (BLBC), which largely overlaps with triple-negative breast cancer, generally displays an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment enriched with tumor-associated macrophages and other immunosuppressive cell populations. However, the driving mechanisms that establish and maintain these tumor microenvironment features remain not fully understood. This study identifies tumor cell-intrinsic POU4F1 as a key regulator of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in BLBC. Tumors with high POU4F1 expression exhibited lower IFNγ-related signature and poor responses to immunotherapy. In immunocompetent 4T1 tumor-bearing mice, POU4F1 knockout led to decreased infiltration of M2-like macrophages and increased infiltration of proliferative and functional CD8+ T cells and NK cells. In-vitro assays using human immune cells demonstrated that POU4F1 directly promoted monocyte recruitment and macrophage polarization, which in turn suppressed the proliferation and effector function of tumor-specific CD8+ T cells and NK cells. Mechanistically, POU4F1 upregulated CCL2 expression through NIK-mediated activation of the non-canonical NF-κB signaling pathway, thereby promoting monocyte recruitment and immunosuppressive phenotype polarization. Genetic ablation or pharmacological targeting of POU4F1 with Bobcat339 significantly inhibited tumor growth, remodeled the tumor immune microenvironment, and synergized with anti-PD-1 therapy in mouse models and patient-derived breast cancer organoids. These findings provide mechanistic insights into how POU4F1, a BLBC-specific transcription factor, orchestrates intercellular crosstalk to establish an immunosuppressive, tumor-supportive microenvironment, and indicate that targeting POU4F1 may represent a promising therapeutic strategy for BLBCs.

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PubMedCarbohydrate polymers2026-07-24

Multifunctional Janus bamboo-derived aerogel with asymmetric surface wettability for efficient oil-water separation and heavy metal ion removal.

Lu Yingying Y, Luo Xinmeng X, Dai Xinru X, Qin Zhiyong Z et al.

Oily wastewater often contains coexisting heavy metal ions, posing a challenge for traditional separation materials that cannot remove both pollutants simultaneously. A Janus bilayer aerogel (BCNF/MXene-BCNF/PDMS) with asymmetric wettability is reported, featuring a hydrophobic upper layer with a water contact angle (WCA) of 133° and a hydrophilic lower layer with a WCA of 0°. The Janus structure introduces asymmetric stress distribution, significantly enhancing the mechanical performance of aerogel (compressive strength up to 127 kPa). Owing to its asymmetric wettability and interconnected network structure, the design prevents oil fouling of adsorption sites by spatially separating oil absorption from metal-ion adsorption, thereby enabling simultaneous treatment of both pollutants in a single process. Benefiting from these structural features, the aerogel achieved over 95% oil-water separation efficiency, a flux of 19,099 L·h-1·m-2 under vacuum assistance, and a Cr(VI) adsorption capacity of 206.2 mg·g-1. Compared with single-function or uniformly wetting materials, this design enables synergistic removal of oil and heavy metal ions from complex wastewater. With these properties, the prepared aerogel has significant potential for treating complex, heavy-metal-contaminated oily wastewater.

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PubMedAngewandte Chemie (International ed. in English)2026-07-24

Efficient and Long-Lived Blue OLEDs by Space-Confined Triplet Scavenging Modulation in Terminal Emitters.

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Blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) incorporating multiple-resonance (MR) emitters have achieved exceptional color purity and external quantum efficiencies (EQEs), yet their operational stability remains limited by triplet accumulation on terminal emitters (TEs). In this study, we report a space-confined triplet-scavenging strategy that spatially couples an anthracene-based triplet-scavenging unit to the MR core while electronically decoupling them. This architecture enables efficient triplet dissipation without disturbing the intrinsic singlet emission of the MR-core. Therefore, the proposed BCzBN-SF1An preserves narrowband blue emission and high photoluminescence quantum yield, while exhibiting an enlarged singlet-triplet splitting and suppressed delayed emission, consistent with triplet scavenging effect. In hyperfluorescent (HF) OLEDs, BCzBN-SF1An exhibits a maximum EQE of 22.2% with a significantly reduced efficiency roll-off. Notably, the device lifetime is extended to 127 h at LT80, a threefold improvement over the parent BCzBN-based device, without sacrificing color purity or efficiency. Transient electroluminescent measurements further reveal suppressed charge trapping and the elimination of delayed emission from TEs, highlighting the synergistic roles of triplet scavenging and optimized charge carrier dynamics. This work demonstrates comprehensive insights into carrier/exciton dynamics, along with an effective molecular design paradigm for simultaneously achieving high efficiency and long operational lifetime in blue HF-OLEDs through precise triplet exciton management.

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