Bridge Biotherapeutics announced that the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) recommended the continuation of the Phase 2a trial (NCT05483907) evaluating the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of BBT-877 in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). According to IDMC's comprehensive assessment on the clinical data from the first 20 IPF patients dosed with BBT-877 or matching placebo for four weeks, the ongoing Phase 2a trial of BBT-877 will continue without any changes to the current study plans. Also, no serious treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were reported from the 20 patients enrolled in the study.

BBT-877, an experimental Autotaxin (ATX) inhibitor, demonstrated its ability to inhibit lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) production by up to 90% in the first-in-human study. LPA is known to bind to cell receptors and induce various physiological activities, such as neovascularization, sclerosis, tumorigenesis, and tumor metastasis, leading to the development of various fibrotic diseases, including IPF. It is estimated that more than 58,000 new cases of IPF are diagnosed in the U.S. alone each year, and as many as 207,000 people are affected by the disease in the U.S. With a median survival of 3 years, IPF affects up to 3 million people worldwide, with increasing incidence in older population.