Galecto, PharmAkea Merger Creates Single Company with Strong Fibrotic Disease, Cancer Pipelines

Galecto Biotech and PharmAkea, two clinical-stage pharmaceutical companies with robust pipelines in fibrotic diseases and cancer, have merged into a single company. Following the merger, the combined company will maintain the Galecto name, as well as its current senior management team, which includes Hans Schambye as CEO. Galecto,…

I enjoy the holiday season, especially Christmas celebrations. As my siblings and other family members were born in Poland — I am the only one born in the U.S. — we follow a traditional Polish Christmas, holding most of the festivities on Christmas Eve, or Wigilia. Special foods are…

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a little-known, complex, and misunderstood rare disease. I hadn’t heard of it before my diagnosis at the tender age of 28, just over three years ago. Learning to live with a fatal lung disease as a young adult is one of the hardest things I’ve…

By blocking activity of the protein GSK-3 beta, the investigational therapy 9-ING-41 slowed disease progression and improved lung function in mice with pulmonary fibrosis (PF), a study found. The study, “Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3β Inhibition with 9-ING-41 Attenuates the Progression of Pulmonary Fibrosis,” was published in the…

Low daily doses of Esbriet (pirfenidone), less than 1200 mg per day, are equally effective at slowing lung function decline in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) as higher daily doses, a real-world analysis found.  Lower doses may help to limit therapy…

Use of INOpulse — inhaled nitric oxide — increased physical activity and improved patient-reported outcomes in people with pulmonary fibrosis (PF) who are at risk of pulmonary hypertension (PH), new topline clinical trial data suggest. INOpulse, developed by Bellerophon Therapeutics, is a device that delivers nitric oxide (NO)…

In December, I wrote a column about slowly emerging from a month of being sick with pneumonia and the flu. I shared the importance of doing our best as patients living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) to stay away from those who are sick, and why common illnesses…

The molecular clockwork that regulates circadian rhythms can become dysregulated in the lungs of people with pulmonary fibrosis, promoting processes that scar lung tissue, a study suggests. Poor sleeping habits also appear to upset the lungs’ circadian clockwork, with people who regularly sleep few or excessive hours being more likely…

While preparing for my family to visit at Christmastime, I was reminded of when my mom, Holly, was discharged from the hospital after her double-lung transplant. We had to make adaptations to make our rented apartment a safe environment for her.   She had been in…

Throughout 2019, Pulmonary Fibrosis News provided you daily coverage of breakthrough discoveries, promising therapies, and clinical trials related to pulmonary fibrosis (PF). As we look forward to bringing more news to patients, family members, and caregivers dealing with PF in 2020, here are the top 10 most-read articles of 2019,…