Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network Opens Online Survey on COVID-19

The Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN) has opened an online survey to better understand how the COVID-19 outbreak is affecting people with rare diseases, their families, and caregivers. Survey questions cover a patient’s physical and mental health, supply of treatments, and access to healthcare, among other…

The Phase 2b GALACTIC-1 trial testing Galecto’s candidate GB0139 as an inhalation therapy for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has recruited more than 150 patients to date, remaining on track despite the current COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced. The study (NCT03832946), underway across centers in the U.S.,…

Algernon Pharmaceuticals received the first ethics approval for its Phase 2 clinical trial in Australia evaluating its repurposed compound NP-120 (ifenprodil) for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and associated chronic cough. Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital‘s Human Research Ethics Committee has approved two sites — the Cairns…

Last weekend, my column turned 1! There were only a few weeks in the past year that I did not write a post for Pulmonary Fibrosis News. This means that I have had about 50 opportunities to share my family’s story with the world. I have tried to…

GB0139, Galecto’s lead compound to treat various fibrotic diseases of the lungs, has shown strong anti-fibrotic activity in a mouse model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and in IPF patients in a completed Phase 2a trial. A randomized, double-blind and placebo controlled Phase 2b trial (NCT03832946)…

Most of my friends and family members would say I am an open book about my chronic illness. After the initial shock wore off from being diagnosed with a life-threatening lung disease at 28, I decided to share my story through writing. Serena Lawrence, the late senior managing columns…

Loss of NEDD4-2 — a protein involved in the regulation of airway hydration and mucus clearance — leads to the onset and development of typical manifestations of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in adult mice, a study has found. These findings, along with the establishment of a new animal…

This past week, I felt things. Like, I really, finally felt things. They were real feelings, not forced, and came without judgment. It’s been longer than I want to admit since I have experienced any emotion without it being tainted by anxious judgment. I have written many columns…