A Phase 2 trial testing the investigational therapy pamrevlumab (FG-3019) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has shown positive and encouraging results, FibroGen, the drug’s developer, announced. In addition, combining pamrevlumab with the FDA-approved IPF therapies Esbriet (pirfenidone) and Ofev (nintedanib) was found to be safe. These results will be…
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Three Lakes Partners, a venture philanthropy organization that finances research in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), has launched its $1 million IPF Catalyst Challenge — a competition to fund the most promising ideas in improving quality of life for IPF patients. The challenge is open to nonprofit groups as well as for-profit ventures. The…
Researchers at two universities in North Carolina have developed a new method to expand stem cells isolated from patient’s lung biopsies. A team led by Dr. Jason Lobo, assistant professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina (UNC), and by Ke Cheng, associate professor in the Department of Molecular…
Recent studies have shown that idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) may be caused by senescence, a cellular aging process. Now, a team of German researchers have successfully counteracted this mechanism in cell culture by using senolytic drugs that are able to kill senescent epithelial lung cells. These findings were reported in a study…
The protein vimentin triggers autoimmune reactions in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and the intensity of the reactions correlates with the severity of the disease, according to a study. The findings underscore scientists’ belief that autoimmunity — the immune system attacking the body’s own cells instead of invaders — plays…
Thalidomide — a controversial drug that caused thousands of birth defects throughout Europe in the late 1950s and was more recently approved to treat multiple myeloma — may also in fact prevent pulmonary fibrosis (PF), Chinese researchers say. Their study, “Anti-inflammation and Antioxidant Effects of Thalidomide on Pulmonary Fibrosis in Mice 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…
Inventiva Pharma recently announced that their abstract titled “PAN-PPAR Agonist IVA337 is Effective in the Prevention of Experimental Lung Fibrosis and Pulmonary Hypertension” has been selected as one of the best papers that will be presented at the 15th International Workshop on Scleroderma Research. The event will take place…
William T. Schmidt, a veteran healthcare advocacy executive, is the new president and chief executive officer of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. Schmidt, who takes over Aug. 14, succeeds Patti Tuomey, who led the foundation’s fight against pulmonary fibrosis from 2010 until February 2017. “After a comprehensive search process, the…
Pulmonary fibrosis patients experience significant practical and emotional problems from their disease, according to a nine-country Boehringer Ingelheim survey. More than 150 people took part in the survey, which exposed the worries that idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients have about their disease’s irreversible progression. Sixty-one percent of patients said they were either…
