New Antibody Treatment Discovered by Ward Lab Approved by FDA

After several decades of hard work by many scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School and elsewhere, an antibody (anti-C5a) has just been approved by the US FDA for treatment of humans who are septic and have developed lung infections with COVID-19, resulting in severe pulmonary dysfunction requiring external lung support. The antibody, anti-C5a, was originally developed in the Dr. Peter Ward laboratory in the early 2000s. The mAb was shown to dramatically reduce lung infections in polymicrobial sepsis in mice. 

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Research Discovery Published

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a disease with unknown causes that result in scarring of the lungs. The scar tissue forms on the alveoli, the small air sacs in the lungs, which makes it more difficult for oxygen to pass through the alveoli walls and into the bloodstream and for carbon dioxide to be removed.