Inês Martins, PhD, managing science editor —

The Germany-based global pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim recently announced the establishment of a research alliance with the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) to discover new targets for treating fibrotic diseases, such as chronic kidney disease (CKD), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The collaborative project, called Harvard Fibrosis Network, is…

Afferent Pharmaceuticals announced the results from the first cohort of a two-cohort Phase 2b study, revealing that the company’s AF-219, an orally available antagonist of the P2X3 receptors, significantly reduced cough frequency in patients with chronic cough, a commonly experienced symptom in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). P2X3 receptors are activated…