Spotlight – still plenty of hopefuls in lung fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis has proved to be a tough disease to crack, as Roche reminded investors this month. That group’s intravenous project zinpentraxin alfa is no more – but many other groups are still taking a shot at the disorder, a new report from Evaluate Vantage shows.

Since the last analysis, Boehringer Ingelheim has taken BI 1015550 into phase 3, while Bristol Myers Squibb has hinted at positive phase 2 results with BMS-986278. And a number of hopefuls have entered mid-stage testing, including Puretech, Blade Therapeutics and, most recently, Arrowhead.

Arrowhead started a phase 1/2 study in early February with ARO-MMP7, an inhaled RNA interference project designed to reduce the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 7, which is thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of IPF.

This could be a disease-modifying approach; however, the development of inhaled RNAi candidates has not gone smoothly in the past.

New options are needed: neither Esbriet nor the other approved IPF therapy, Boehringer Ingelheim’s Ofev, are considered disease modifying.

• Download the full report, including a table on the mid and late-stage IPF pipeline, covering Blade's cudetaxestat, Horizon's HZN-825, Pliant's bexotegrast, Puretech's LYT-100, and many more, below.