Steve Bryson, PhD, science writer —

Nighttime breathing symptoms related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) significantly impaired daily activities and health-related quality of life, a survey of patients and physicians revealed. Most of the surveyed patients (74%) reported having nocturnal symptoms, while physicians reported that they prescribed treatments based on 24-hour symptom relief for…

Nuance Pharma has been given the go-ahead to launch clinical trials in China to evaluate the investigational therapy ensifentrine as a maintenance treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The company asked permission, in the form of an investigational new drug (IND) application, to conduct both Phase 1…

Salmeterol, combined with the root extract derivative magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate (MgIG), eased the signs and symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in rats, a study demonstrated. Salmeterol-MgIG combination therapy was more effective than the approved salmeterol-fluticasone combination in improving lung function and reducing inflammation. The researchers suggested…

Scientists say the discovery of a triggering enzyme in the lung tissue of people with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could lead to a new treatment for the inflammatory disorder. Elevated levels of the newly uncovered enzyme, called chymase-1 or CMA-1, were found in tissue isolated from the lungs…

Note: This story was updated June 6, 2022, to note that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has assigned an Investigational New Drug application (IND) number to Therapeutic Solutions International experimental JadiCell therapy. The FDA has not yet approved the company’s IND application. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s review…

Researchers have developed a new genetic tool for predicting the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in individuals of non-European ancestry. It was found to more effectively determine COPD risk for both African Americans and heavy smokers than existing models that are primarily built on genetic information from…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Albany Medical College, in New York, a $2.8 million, five-year grant to study how carbon dioxide and metabolism impact people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). COPD, affecting more than 16.4 million people in the U.S. alone, is a group of…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will allow Sanolla’s VoqX to be used in the clinic, the first stethoscope that can be used to detect infrasounds — acoustic waves that humans cannot hear. The primary care stethoscope — a diagnostic tool clinicians normally use to listen to sounds…

Molecules called stapled peptides blocked the secretion, or release, of mucin proteins from airway cells and lessened mucus buildup in the lungs of mice in a study. According to its researchers, these findings led to the creation of an inhaled aerosol that was tested in the mice and, with further…

ENA Respiratory is developing its first-in-class, broad-spectrum antiviral nasal spray — known as INNA-051 — for populations at risk of developing complications from respiratory viral infections, including COVID-19. Now, the Australian company is teaming up with the COPD Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to improve the…