GKT137831 in IPF Patients With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

A placebo-controlled, multicenter, randomized trial to test GKT137831 in ambulatory patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. This drug is an inhibitor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase (NOX) isoforms. The investigators hypothesize the drug will decrease pulmonary injury due to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by NOX enzymes, which are believed to play an important role in the development of IPF. Treatment with GKT137831 could result in significant benefit for a lung disease that has, until now, been almost invariably inexorable. This clinical trial represents the bedside application of a series of NOX translational and basic studies and discoveries, over several years, from the laboratory of Dr. Victor Thannickal.