News

MediciNova, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with unmet medical needs, recently announced that the US Food and Drug Administration has granted its leading product candidate for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) a Fast Track Designation. This follows the agency’s October 2014 decision to grant…

Promedior recently announced the initiation of a Phase 2 trial of PRM-151, an experimental anti-fibrotic agent, in patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). Previous clinical Phase 1 studies also conducted by Promedior, a biotechnology company working on therapeutics for the treatment of fibrosis, led to this placebo-controlled Phase 2 study, which…

In a recent paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA entitled “DC-SIGN activation mediates the differential effects of SAP and CRP on the innate immune system and inhibits fibrosis in mice,” scientists from Texas A&M University…

In a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a team of researchers from Columbia Engineering and Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have developed a new strategy for delivering small volumes of drug agents into the lungs. Effective treatment strategies for…

The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) recently launched an awareness campaign highlighting that September is Global Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month. In order to lead the celebration, the PFF has planned several activities throughout the month that aim to not only support disease education for patients, family members and professionals, but also raise funds to support scientific…

The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) is partnering with Veracyte, Inc. to conduct a patient survey across the United States in an attempt to better understand their diagnostic experiences with interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The Interstitial Lung Disease Patient Journey (INTENSITY) survey will examine the steps and amount of time…

Researchers at Robley Rex VA Medical Center and the University of Louisville recently published in the journal Scientific Reports the finding that the vagus nerve can modulate pulmonary fibrosis pathogenesis in mice. The study is entitled “Vagotomy attenuates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in…

A currently recruiting Phase 2 clinical trial from Sanofi, “Efficacy and Safety of SAR156597 in the Treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (ESTAIR),” will be investigating how a novel antibody treatment may help patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The novel therapeutic,…

The American Thoracic Society (ATS) now recommends that some patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are eligible to be treated with Genentech’s Esbriet ® (pirfenidone). The conditional recommendation was based on three Phase 3 clinical trials of Esbriet vs. placebo in patients with IPF. In…

Australia-based pharmaceutical company Pharmaxis Ltd. recently agreed to collaborate with UK-based biotechnology company Synairgen plc in developing a selective inhibitor of lysyl oxidase type 2 enzyme (LOXL2) to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), as this enzyme drives scar tissue formation. If LOXL2 is inhibited, survival rates of patients with IPF may…