Margarida Maia, PhD,  science writer—

A committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is recommending orphan drug status — a designation that aims to speed therapy development in rare diseases — for tranilast, the active ingredient in NXP002, an inhaled formulation from Nuformix for treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). A decision by the…

Broadway performers will sing show tunes at the 15th annual Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Broadway Belts for PFF! event, which will be held at New York’s Sony Hall March 10 to raise funds and awareness for pulmonary fibrosis, a disease in which scar tissue forms in the lungs. Tony…

The Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) of Boston University and Boston Medical Center will collaborate with GSK to develop stem cell-based models to better understand pulmonary fibrosis and identify new targets for treatments that may halt or slow its progression. “This exciting collaboration with GSK will help ……

Imaging with a tracer that homes in on scar-forming fibroblasts may help predict the progression of pulmonary fibrosis in people with interstitial lung disease (ILD), offering doctors a way to gauge who should be monitored more closely or begin preventive treatment. That tracer, a radiolabeled form of the fibroblast…

Low doses of controlled-release morphine, a natural opioid derived from the opium poppy, may reduce the frequency of daytime cough in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to data from a Phase 2 clinical trial. In the trial, called PACIFY COUGH (NCT04429516), patients who were experiencing persistent…

Certain immune cells called natural killer (NK) T-cells are present at higher numbers in the lungs of people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) than in the lungs of healthy people, according to data announced by GRI Bio. Also, the more NK T-cells, the greater the number of macrophages,…

The first patient has been enrolled in a Phase 3 clinical trial of nebulized Tyvaso (treprostinil) inhalation solution for treating progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF), according to United Therapeutics, the therapy’s developer. Called TETON PPF (NCT05943535), the study will evaluate how safe Tyvaso is versus a placebo…

Many people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in the U.S. are not diagnosed early enough or given treatments helping to low its progression in a timely fashion, a large data study found. Although more is known about risk factors for IPF, delays are evident in diagnosis and the…

Treatment with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) bound to tiny vesicles loaded with Ofev’s active ingredient reduced lung inflammation and scarring while  promoting lung tissue repair in a mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis (PF), a study has shown. This combination strategy worked better than Ofev alone in both young…

Long-term exposure to even low levels of sulfur dioxide (SO2), an air pollutant with a strong odor, may place people at a higher risk of developing idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a study in over 400,000 U.K. residents found. The association’s strength grew as genetic susceptibility to the disease and…