News

Repeat Lung Injury Depletes Stem Cell Pool There, May Promote COPD

Repeated lung injury increases the biological age of lung stem cells and progressively diminishes their regenerative abilities, according to a study in mice and lab-grown human cells. These findings suggest that such repeat damage contributes to the abnormal repair and tissue remodeling that characterizes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and…

Zephyr Valve Now Covered By 2 More Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans

Two additional Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) plans are now covering Pulmonx’s Zephyr Endobronchial Valve and similar devices to treat severe emphysema, a form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). With the addition of these two plans to similar previous policy decisions, valves will be now covered for the…

Renovion, COPD Foundation Partner on New Therapy to Clear Mucus

Renovion is teaming up with the COPD Foundation to develop a new nebulized therapy that aims to help clear mucus and reduce inflammation in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis. Phase 2 clinical trials of the investigational treatment, called  ARINA-1, are planned to…

NIH Renews Grant to Research Mechanisms of COPD and IPF

A $12.8 million five-year renewal grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will fund research that seeks to better understand the molecular mechanisms that drive chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other lung diseases. The research also aims to increase understanding of how cigarette smoking affects the development…

Pollution, Distance From Green Spaces Tied to Quality of Life

The health-related quality of life of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) living in Barcelona, Spain, is negatively affected by exposure to air pollution and living farther away from green or blue water-rich spaces, a study suggests. “This study, performed for the first time on a Mediterranean population,…

How Stem Cell Therapy Works to Ease COPD Described in Study

Treatment with human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) results in a strong, but temporary, reduction in pro-inflammatory molecules involved in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to data from a Phase 1 clinical trial involving nine COPD patients. Notably, molecules directly produced by MSCs were identified as potential drivers of these…

Kaleido, COPD Foundation Partner to Investigate KB109

Kaleido Biosciences is teaming up with the COPD Foundation to investigate KB109, a small compound designed to modulate the gut microbiome — the community of microbes living in the intestines — as a potential treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The decision was based on promising…