Santa Cruz, Calif. – Lung diseases are attracting renewed attention across drug development and life sciences investment, with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) emerging as a particularly active area.
IPF is a chronic, progressive condition marked by irreversible scarring of lung tissue. As fibrosis advances, the lungs become increasingly stiff, making breathing progressively more difficult.
Investor and industry interest is accelerating. Several biotech companies focused on IPF and related fibrotic diseases have raised substantial funding in recent months—for example, Avalyn Pharma secured $100 million in a Series D round. Large pharmaceutical players, including Bristol Myers Squibb, have also moved into the space. This momentum aligns with earlier investor sentiment highlighting IPF as a high-priority therapeutic area, driven by novel biological targets, emerging treatment modalities, and looming patent expirations that are opening the door for innovation.
The global IPF market generated nearly $3 billion in 2025 and is projected to approach $7 billion by 2035.
A persistent unmet need: stopping disease progression
Currently approved therapies in the U.S. and Europe—Boehringer Ingelheim’s Ofev (nintedanib) and Esbriet (pirfenidone)—can slow disease progression by roughly 50% per year, but they do not halt it. Boehringer’s newer therapy, Jascayd (nerandomilast), approved in the U.S. in October 2025, has yet to receive approval in Europe.
As Jonas Hallén, co-founder and CMO of Calluna Pharma, explains, patients continue to decline, albeit more slowly. Lung stiffness worsens over time, limiting everyday activities and exacerbating symptoms such as chronic cough.
Both Hallén and Georg Vo Beiske, CEO of Tribune Therapeutics, emphasize that stopping disease progression remains the central unmet need. Existing treatments fail to address the underlying biological drivers of fibrosis.
New approaches aim to change that. Calluna Pharma’s lead candidate, CAL101, targets the S100A4 protein, with the goal of shutting down pathways that drive scar tissue formation. The company announced completion of enrollment in its Phase II AURORA study in April. Meanwhile, Tribune Therapeutics is developing preclinical therapies that interrupt signaling from CCN protein family members, which play a key role in pro-fibrotic processes.
Tolerability remains a major barrier
In addition to limited efficacy, current treatments are often poorly tolerated. Gastrointestinal side effects are the most common issue, frequently leading patients to discontinue therapy. The problem is compounded when multiple treatments are used in combination, intensifying adverse effects.
As Beiske notes, a therapy that can both halt fibrosis and maintain a favorable tolerability profile would represent a major breakthrough. Both leaders agree that the future likely lies in targeted combination therapies that deliver stronger efficacy with fewer side effects.
IPF as a gateway to broader fibrotic diseases
IPF is increasingly viewed as a proving ground for therapies that could extend to other fibrotic conditions. The underlying biology suggests that successfully targeting fibroblast activity in the lungs may translate to similar effects in other organs.
This has sparked interest in diseases such as end-stage kidney disease and fibrotic liver disease, where fibrosis plays a central role. In liver disease, for example, measurable markers like liver stiffness could potentially serve as regulatory endpoints.
Calluna’s S100A4-targeting approach may have particularly broad applications. Because S100A4 acts as a general alarm signal in response to tissue injury and stress, it could be relevant across multiple indications. One area of interest is systemic sclerosis, a multi-organ fibrotic inflammatory disease with significant unmet medical need.
Overall, IPF is not only a high-priority disease in its own right but also a strategic entry point for tackling fibrosis more broadly—positioning it at the center of a rapidly evolving therapeutic landscape.