Autoimmune Lung Diseases

ImmuneWorks’ research and product development initiatives focus exclusively on serious autoimmune diseases of the lung, specifically, lung transplant rejections and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) . The company’s progress is based on a scientific discovery of a common autoimmune pathway that underlies these diseases. Through its research and discovery, ImmuneWorks is actively developing novel antigen-specific therapies and complementary diagnostic tests.

Scientific Discovery:
Autoimmunity Implicated in IPF and Lung Transplant Rejections

The development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) may begin as the result of an injury to the lung, possibly due to an infection, smoking, or other unknown event. In the case of lung transplant rejection, reperfusion injury following transplantation may cause the initial insult to the donated lung. ImmuneWorks scientists believe that in both IPF and lung transplant rejection, the injury induces an inflammatory response, attracting antigen-presenting cells to the lung. Further, the injury exposes Type V Collagen to these antigen-presenting cells, which phagocytose this protein. These antigen-presenting cells then migrate to a lymph node, where they present this auto-antigen to T cells. T cells activated against Type V Collagen, along with B cells, migrate back to the lung and the initial site of inflammation. These activated immune cells exacerbate the lung injury through a self-destructive autoimmune response against Type V Collagen. This leads to further fibrosis in the lung, and eventually lung failure and death. Armed with that knowledge, ImmuneWorks’ focus is to research and develop potential immune tolerance therapies for people with IPF and those awaiting a lung transplant.