Margarida Maia, PhD,  science writer—

KIN001, an experimental oral treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), was more effective than Esbriet (pirfenidone) at easing lung fibrosis in a mouse model of the disease, its developer, Kinarus Therapeutics, reported. When KIN001 was given with Esbriet, an approved treatment, the reduction in fibrosis was even greater than…

Bellerophon Therapeutics has gotten the green light to cut by about half the number of patients who may enter REBUILD, its ongoing Phase 3 trial of INOpulse (inhaled nitric oxide) for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension linked to pulmonary fibrosis. The downsizing may help the company complete the…

Algernon Pharmaceuticals has filed for orphan drug status for NP-120 (ifenprodil), an experimental oral medicine for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) who have persistent, hard-to-treat cough. “The FDA has a standard response time of 90 days to requests for orphan designation, and so we should know by…

A molecular test, called the Envisia Genomic Classifier, may predict which patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) will progress on immunosuppressants, which could help doctors decide who will more likely benefit from antifibrotic therapy. The test, developed by Veracyte, can tell IPF from other types of interstitial lung…

Less than 14 months after stopping its GALACTIC-1 study for certain patients due to safety concerns, Galecto has hit its enrollment target for the Phase 2b trial — now under a revised protocol — testing its investigational inhaled therapy GB0139 for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Galecto had resumed trial…

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), an antioxidant found naturally in the body and some foods, may help airway basal stem cells survive and ease symptoms of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a study in mice given both in a transplant suggests. Researchers observed that more airway basal stem cells, a type of…

Dosing has begun in healthy volunteers in a Phase 1 clinical trial of ISM001-055, a small molecule potential treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) developed using an artificial intelligence (AI) platform, Insilico Medicine announced. Up to 80 adults in this study  (NCT05154240), currently enrolling at its one…

Pliant Therapeutics will start testing, in trial, a higher dose of its investigational oral small molecule PLN-74809, an anti-fibrotic therapy for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The higher dose of 320 mg will be given to about 28 adults with IPF once daily for at least six months as…

Two protein kinases, called DCLK1 and STK33, may serve as candidates for a molecular targeted therapy of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a study reported. Current anti-fibrotic therapies for IPF have been shown to slow disease progression. One such approved treatment, Ofev (nintedanib), works by blocking the tyrosine kinase. But…

The more monocyte immune cells that circulate in a person’s bloodstream, the greater the odds that lung abnormalities, such as those linked to pulmonary fibrosis, will show up on a CT imaging scan, a study found. Researchers also observed that a higher monocyte count increased the odds of lung…