Magdalena Kegel,  —

An inhaled version of miRagen Therapeutics‘ potential fibrosis therapy MRG-201 rendered genes involved in scarring nearly inactive in a rat model of lung fibrosis, the company reported. The preclinical-trial study also showed that most of the compound reached the animals’ lungs. The fact that little of it was found in other tissue…

Synairgen and Pharmaxis are preparing a Phase 1 clinical trial of PXS-5382A for pulmonary fibrosis and other tissue-scarring disorders. Positive results of preclinical-trial studies on the therapy’s pharmacology — the way it works — and toxicology paved the way for the trial, the company said. PXS-5382A blocks an enzyme known…

miRagen Therapeutics will release preclinical data supporting an inhaled version of its investigational treatment MRG-201 for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress that opens Saturday. At the meeting, which runs Sept. 9–13 in Milan, Italy, miRagen will present the poster, “Feasibility, distribution, and efficacy of…

Researchers at New York’s Columbia University have developed a new way of restoring lung function by replacing airway surface cells in a scaffold containing supportive cells and blood vessels — an approach that offers promise in treating lung diseases and improving lung transplant survival rates. Their study, “Functional vascularized…

The influence of smoking on the course of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is complex, and a recent study did not manage to significantly disentangle the relationship. While smoking appeared to influence the onset of IPF, with current smokers falling ill at a younger age, the study found no impact of smoking…

GLPG1690, an investigational therapy developed by Galapagos to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), prevented further lung decline in a Phase 2a trial, allowing the Belgian pharmaceutical firm to rapidly move forward with the clinical development of this therapy. The trial, called FLORA (NCT02738801), involved randomly assigning 17 IPF patients treatment with GLPG1690 and…

Physical activity predicts mortality in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) as well as established measures, according to a study that suggests that traditional measures, nevertheless, might underestimate the impact of disease progression on patients’ everyday lives. Researchers at the German Center for Lung Research in Germany found that physical activity…

Ofev (nintedanib) can counter lung fibrosis by correcting abnormalities in lung blood-vessel structure, according to a German study in mice. The research suggests that fibrosis, or tissue scarring, and mechanisms involved in blood vessel formation interact in the progression of the disease. Researchers at the Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center in Mainz studied…

Esbriet (pirfenidone) and Ofev (nintedanib) remain the most reliably effective treatments for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to a study that used a time-course model to compare the effectiveness of various approved and experimental drugs. But a compound now in development might challenge their position. The analysis found that…

Researchers from two Southern U.S. universities and a federal healthcare agency have begun a study of pulmonary fibrosis in people with the rare disease Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS). The objective of the observational clinical trial is to learn why those with HPS develop lung fibrosis, or tissue scarring. The team from …