Aptuit and Chiesi Are Partnering to Identify New Therapies for IPF

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Aptuit and Chiesi Farmaceutici are partnering in a search for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) treatments.

Aptuit will be in charge of early-discovery efforts, which will include medicinal chemistry and pharmacology, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics.

Both companies will take part in the search for, and development of, compounds to treat IPF.

“This project builds upon the existing relationship between Chiesi and Aptuit in the field of Respiratory Drug Discovery,” Jonathan Goldman, chief executive officer at Aptuit, said in a press release. “We are delighted to be working with Chiesi to identify early stage compounds that we hope will ultimately progress into innovative treatments for patients with this debilitating disease.”

“This alliance will allow our project to progress effectively to the identification of lead compounds with a novel mechanism of action, leveraging our joint expertise in respiratory drug discovery,” said Mark Parry Billings, head of Chiesi’s corporate treatment-development effort.

IPF is a progressive disease in which scar tissue, or fibrosis, builds up in the lungs, causing them to  lose the elasticity they need to take in oxygen from the air. It is difficult to predict the disease’s progression because it affects everyone differently.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved only two treatments for the disease — Esbriet (pirfenidone) and Ofev (nintedanib).

Aptuit is a global disease-treatment-development company based in the United States. It has taken a number of treatments from early discovery to clinical development.

Chiesi is an 80-year-old international research company based in Italy. Respiratory-disease treatments is one of its major focuses. It also works in neonatology, rare diseases and special-care therapeutics.