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Former New York Yankee and Grammy-nominated musician Bernie Williams will join musician, actress, and producer Queen Latifah, music duo The Bacon Brothers, singer-composer Paul Shaffer, and others to serve as a judge in the Breathless Ballad Challenge, a lyric competition that aims to raise awareness about idiopathic pulmonary…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted fast track status to IM156, ImmunoMet Therapeutics’ treatment candidate for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). “Fast track designation is another important milestone for ImmunoMet with the potential to speed our ability to advance IM156 to patients,” Benjamin Cowen PhD, ImmunoMet’s CEO,…

Note: This article was updated to include information from a Hopkins study published on May 5, 2021, of responses after a second vaccine dose was given to transplant patients. Long before COVID-19 changed the world, organ transplant recipients were wearing masks to shield themselves from airborne threats.

Scientists discovered that blocking a tiny RNA molecule can help rejuvenate aged mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) — which have the ability to give rise to specialized cells — derived from people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Those rejuvenated stem cells were found to have improved therapeutic efficacy when used…

Treatment with Ofev (nintedanib) is safe and can preserve lung function in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) who are elderly or have several other health conditions, a new study indicates. The study, “Efficacy and safety of nintedanib in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis who…

Small extracellular vesicles (EVs) released from umbilical cord stem cells seem to carry molecules that can inhibit the TGF-beta signaling pathway and reduce tissue damage in the lungs of mice with pulmonary fibrosis (PF), a study shows. The findings support further research on stem cell-derived EVs as a potential…

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is associated with poorer prognosis in patients with lung cancer, a study shows. People with lung cancer showed a higher risk of dying if IPF was present. The findings also suggest that lung cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, can contribute to poor clinical outcomes by…

Two people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and poor lung function underwent chemotherapy for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) while continuing with their antifibrotic treatment, with clinical benefit evident in both. These findings suggest that “chemotherapy can be considered in patients…

SAN903, a candidate therapy for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), led to a significant reduction in markers of inflammation and fibrosis (scarring) in a mouse model of induced pulmonary fibrosis (PF), its developer, Saniona, reported. The treatment’s ability to lessen tissue scarring also outperformed that of Esbriet (pirfenidone),…

More than half of the people with rare diseases and their caregivers, asked in a survey, were undecided or less than willing to be vaccinated for COVID-19 if a vaccine was approved under emergency use authorization instead of the routine process, the EveryLife Foundation for Rare Disease reports. These findings…