Biotech company Bridge Biotherapeutics Inc said on Friday that it has presented the interim data from the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) Phase I clinical study of BBT-877 at the American Thoracic Society International Conference (ATS 2019) held in Dallas, Texas from 17-22 May 2019.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and irreversible, fatal lung disease characterized by difficulty breathing, cough, and impaired lung function.

During the ATS 2019's Pathophysiology in Diffuse Parenchymal Lung Diseases poster session , the company presented the interim pharmacokinetic and safety results from its randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase I study of BBT-877 to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Under the company's single-ascending dose (SAD) portion of the study, the plasma concentrations of BBT-877 increased with dose in a dose-proportional manner. All doses demonstrated safety and tolerability, with only mild adverse events (AEs) and no serious AEs.

The Phase I study of BBT-877 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03830125) is expected to be finalized by August 2019 and a multinational Phase II study is planned to be conducted in the US, Canada, Australia and multiple countries in Europe and Asia. The interim clinical data support the continued development of BBT-877 for IPF.

Autotaxin (ATX) is a protein of approximately 900 amino acids discovered in the early 1990s and is an important enzyme for generating the lipid-signaling molecule, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). BBT-877 has shown potential as a best-in-class ATX inhibitor for treatment of IPF with favorable results in the first-in-human, clinical study.