News

First Patient Dosed in Phase 2 Trial of Namilumab

The first participant has been dosed in a Phase 2 clinical trial testing the experimental therapy namilumab in people with pulmonary sarcoidosis, the therapy’s developer Kinevant Sciences announced. “We are excited to advance namilumab as a promising new treatment for pulmonary sarcoidosis since it has a mechanism of…

$50K Awarded for Research on Cardiac Sarcoidosis Biomarkers

The Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (FSR) has awarded pulmonologist Nabeel Hamzeh, MD, at the University of Iowa, a $50,000 grant to develop blood biomarkers of cardiac sarcoidosis. His project, titled “Cardiac-Specific Cell Free DNA Biomarkers for Cardiac Sarcoidosis,” will focus on the biomarker potential of heart cell-specific circulating cell-free…

Infliximab Better for Steroid Tapering in Cardiac Sarcoidosis

Infliximab — marketed as Remicade and biosimilars — had steroid-sparing effects superior to methotrexate in the treatment of cardiac sarcoidosis, a small study found. The success rate of a tapering course of corticosteroids was significantly better when infliximab was added to the regimen than when the steroid was used…

Xentria Raises $25M to Boost Development of XTMAB-16

Xentria has raised $25 million in funding to further the development of XTMAB-16, its experimental antibody therapy for sarcoidosis. The funding will allow for the launch of a global clinical trial of XTMAB-16 in sarcoidosis patients, planned to start early next year. “I am excited about this…

Sarcoidosis Prevalence Found to Be Higher on US East Coast

About 35 out of every 100,000 people with private insurance in the U.S. are estimated to have sarcoidosis, and most disease clusters are located near urban areas on the East Coast, a new study shows. However, most of these clusters disappeared when controlling for race, “suggesting that geographical racial…

Ann Theodore Foundation and Milken Institute Award Grants

The Ann Theodore Foundation and the Milken Institute have awarded more than $3 million to six research teams nationwide to study sarcoidosis topics ranging from risk factors for the poorly understood disease to its underlying mechanisms. The Ann Theodore Foundation Breakthrough Sarcoidosis Initiative grant program seeks to understand…