Below is a link to a press release regarding a clinical trial I'll soon be entering. For those of you unfamiliar of the effects of IPF on my life, this gives a good overview.

I continue to do well. My doctors keep on telling me how sick I am, but I feel great! The only thing I wish so much for - that I could see more of my sons and grandsons. I wish I was closer to my family, but my proximity to Vanderbilt is a blessing beyond dreams. The Pulmonary Clinic is state-of-the-art world class and my doctors are amazing. I also live in the most amazing community that reaches out with tenderness.

I had trouble getting the link jargon correct, so below is a portion of the press release regarding the clinical trial I'll be in.

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Press Releases


FibroGen Announces Promising Preliminary Data from an Open-label Phase 2 Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of FG-3019 in Individuals with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and Provides Program Update

-FibroGen Expands Clinical Study Based on Preliminary Data Indicating Improvement in Lung Function and Lung Fibrosis in Patients with IPF-

San Francisco, CA - May 3, 2012

FibroGen, Inc., today announced expansion of an ongoing open-label Phase 2 study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of FG-3019, a human monoclonal antibody against connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), in individuals with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The company’s decision to add a second, higher dose group is based on promising preliminary data from the first dose group as well as dose-escalation data from other clinical trials of FG-3019 indicating that higher doses of FG-3019 appear to be associated with a more robust biological and clinical response. FibroGen has also decided to add on another year of FG-3019 therapy for patients in the first dose group who are exhibiting stable or improved lung function in order to evaluate whether the observed maintenance of lung function continues.

IPF is a chronic, progressive, fatal lung disease for which there are no FDA-approved therapies. FG-3019 was developed to inhibit the activity of CTGF, a matricellular protein that plays a key role in fibrosis. More than a decade of research conducted by FibroGen and others has demonstrated a critical role of CTGF as a final common pathway in chronic fibrotic diseases in which persistent and excessive scarring leads to organ dysfunction and failure.

“This is the first demonstration in humans, to our knowledge, that reversal of fibrosis may be possible using a highly-targeted antifibrotic therapeutic,” said Thomas B. Neff, Chief Executive Officer of FibroGen.

A total of 54 patients having moderate to severe IPF for up to five years and aggressive disease progression have been enrolled into the first dose group in which 15 mg/kg FG-3019 is administered by intravenous infusion every 3 weeks for 45 weeks. Patients are tested every 3 months to assess changes in pulmonary function including measurement of forced vital capacity (FVC), a key indicator of both pulmonary function loss and disease-related mortality in IPF. For reference, based on placebo-treated patients in multiple recent clinical trials, patients with IPF typically experience a loss in lung function of approximately 7% predicted FVC per annum. In addition, patients are evaluated every 6 months by high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) imaging to assess structural changes in the lungs. HRCT assessments are made by pulmonary radiology experts who are using advanced digital imaging methods to quantify extent of and changes in lung fibrosis.