Marisa Wexler, MS,  senior science writer—

Black patients with pulmonary fibrosis (PF) are diagnosed around a decade earlier than their white counterparts in the U.S., a new study reports. They also tend to be hospitalized more often and at younger ages compared with white or Hispanic patients, and were significantly younger at time of death,…

Being exposed at work to medium or high levels of asbestos is associated with a near double risk of developing idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) for cigarette smokers, according to a recent U.K. study involving men. The association between asbestos, smoking, and IPF was especially strong in people with a…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted INS018_055 orphan drug designation for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), the therapy’s developer Insilico Medicine, announced. Insilico is expecting to initiate a global Phase 2 clinical trial testing INS018_055 in people with IPF later this year. Orphan drug…

The Phase 3 REBUILD clinical trial testing INOpulse (inhaled nitric oxide) in people with pulmonary fibrosis (PF) has enrolled its last patient. Recruitment finished sooner than anticipated, according to INOpulse developer Bellerophon Therapeutics. Top-line results are expected later this year and it’s hoped they will support efforts on…

A new startup company called Isterian Biotech has launched with the goal of developing new therapies for fibrotic diseases. Isterian is working to develop a first-in-class group of small molecules that would inhibit a protein called transglutaminase 2 (TG2), which plays a key role in fibrosis, or tissue scarring. Preclinical…

A Phase 2b clinical trial testing NP-120 (ifenprodil) as a treatment for chronic cough is expected to begin later this year, according to the therapy’s developer, Algernon Pharmaceuticals. But plans for a Phase 2b study of NP-120 in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are postponed “until…

Treatment with an extract of scorpion venom eased lung scarring in a mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis (PF), a study reported. The study, “Scorpion venom polypeptide governs alveolar macrophage M1/M2 polarization to alleviate pulmonary fibrosis,” was published in the journal Tissue and Cell. Scorpions and…

Pliant Therapeutics’ experimental oral anti-fibrotic therapy bexotegrast has received orphan drug designation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as a potential treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), the company announced. EMA gives this designation to therapies that have the potential to improve care for conditions that affect fewer…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to ifenprodil, the active agent in NP-120, an investigational oral medicine for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This designation gives Algernon Pharmaceuticals, as the therapy’s developer, certain incentives including tax credits, fee waivers, and a guarantee for…

Dosing has begun in healthy volunteers in a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating the safety and pharmacological properties of LASN01, an experimental therapy for pulmonary fibrosis and other diseases characterized by excessive tissue scarring, or fibrosis. “The initiation of this trial is an important milestone for Lassen and continues…