Oct 12 (Reuters) – Bristol Myers Squibb said on Monday a lower dose of its experimental drug helped slow the decline in lung function in patients with a serious lung-scarring disease.
The late-stage trial, enrolling 1,255 people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, tested two oral doses of admilparant.
The company’s shares were up over 3% in premarket trading after it also reported positive trial results for its cancer drug, RYZ101.
If approved, admilparant would become the first in a class of medicines called LPA1 inhibitors to treat IPF. It works by inhibiting the protein receptor LPA1 to reduce scarring in the lungs.
Existing IPF therapies include Boehringer Ingelheim’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor, Ofev, and Roche’s anti-fibriotic drug, Esbriet.
The New Jersey-based Bristol said the 60 mg dose of admilparant, taken twice daily, showed a statistically significant benefit over placebo in preserving lung function.
The higher 120 mg dose, however, did not meet the main goal of the study.
Lung function was gauged using forced vital capacity, a measure of the amount of air a person can forcibly exhale after taking a deep breath.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive lung disease which causes irreversible scarring that thickens and stiffens lung tissue, gradually impairing breathing and lung function.
The drug was generally well tolerated at both doses, and rates of discontinuation due to side effects were low and similar to those in the placebo group, the company said.
Bristol is also testing the drug in a separate late-stage trial in progressive pulmonary fibrosis, with results expected in early 2027.
(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
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