PureTech Health PLC on Wednesday said a new patient survey for people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis has provided new insights into disease burden and patient experience.

The Boston, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company said the 90-person survey found the majority of participants with IPF experienced a high burden of disease that interfered with their normal activities, including symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue and coughing.

IPF is a rare, progressive and fatal lung disease with a median survival of two to five years. Nearly three out of every four people with the condition choose to forego treatment with effective medicines, due to tolerability issues with standard-of-care drugs.

Comorbidities, side effects from antifibrotic treatment and the use of supplemental oxygen were all found to interfere with patients’ quality of life, which PureTech Health said suggests the need for improved interventions to manage symptoms.

PureTech Health also reviewed its plan to evaluate the primary outcome of the Phase 2b Elevate IPF clinical trial using a prespecified Bayesian approach. The randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-finding study was designed to evaluate the efficacy, tolerability, safety and dosing regiment of LYT-100, or deupirfenidone, as a treatment for patients with IPF.

It expects results from the phase 2b trial at the end of 2024.

Vice President of Medical Affairs Camilla Graham said: ‘This month marks a decade since the first two antifibrotics for the treatment of IPF were approved, and since then, limited therapeutic advances have been made and people with IPF still face substantial challenges. At PureTech, we are investing in changing this paradigm, and this research highlights ongoing gaps with symptom management and supportive care in IPF. We hope this research will help improve communications between people with IPF and their healthcare teams. It also informs our work to develop a new IPF treatment option, which we believe will address key limitations of the current standard-of-care medicines.’

Shares in PureTech Health were up 0.4% at 150.62 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.

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