News

A motor protein called myosin II was identified in a recent study to be a driver of fibrosis development — a finding with a notable potential to lead to improved treatments for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The study by  Cleveland Clinic researchers is titled “Matrix-Driven Myosin II Mediates the Pro-Fibrotic Fibroblast Phenotype,“ and was published in the …

Boehringer Ingelheim recently announced that OFEV (nintedanib) has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) within the National Health Service (NHS) in England and in Wales. Nintedanib, an oral small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is recommended for…

Researchers discovered that mechanotherapy on damaged muscle tissue reduces both fibrotic tissue accumulation and inflammation while helping to increase tissue regeneration, according to a new study titled “Biologic-free mechanically induced muscle regeneration,” published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Although focusing on the repair…

UT Health Northeast, a medical center that is part of the University of Texas system, recently announced in a press release that four of its scientists have received a total of $2.1 million in competitive research grants. The researchers are Dr. Vijay Rao, Dr. Krishna Vankayalapati, Dr. Hong-Long Ji,…

A European survey of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) found that patients well understand the disease’s significant physical and emotional impact on their quality of life, and are frustrated by a perceived lack of quality IPF information and public understanding. The study also underscored the beneficial role of patients’ caregivers and specialist nurses, where available.

A new article that reviews available treatment options for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) took a critical but positive look at available research information for OFEV (nintedanib). The article focuses on the clinical evidence supporting nintedanib as an IPF treatment and on the drug’s pharmacological characteristics. The article, titled “Idiopathic…

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients experiencing acute exacerbations (IPF-AE) who have a history of immunosuppression and high-dose steroid use are likely to have measurably worse survival outcomes than IPF-AE patients not under such treatment, a new study reported. The research article, “Survival in Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis acute exacerbations: the non-steroid approach,” was published…

Researchers from a large number of international institutions have published an integrated analysis showing that long-term treatment with pirfenidone (Esbriet, Genentech, Roche) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) can be considered safe. The study, “Safety of pirfenidone in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: integrated analysis of…

Gilead Sciences, Inc. recently announced in a press release that it is stopping its RAINIER Phase II clinical trial testing the investigational monoclonal antibody simtuzumab in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), noting that the experimental therapy did not demonstrate efficacy in treating the disease. Simtuzumab is a humanized monoclonal…

MedImmune, AstraZeneca’s biologic research and development arm, announced that it is expanding its collaboration with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), to focus on basic research and translational sciences into diseases involving the Respiratory, Inflammation and Autoimmunity (RIA) fields. The partnership continues joint work begun in 2014, and the two will initiate about a half-dozen research projects…