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MannKind Launches Educational Website To Raise Awareness Of NTM Lung Disease
DANBURY, Conn. And WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., July 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MannKind Corporation (Nasdaq: MNKD), a company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative inhaled therapeutic products and devices for patients with endocrine and orphan lung diseases, announced today the launch of an educational website designed to raise awareness of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung disease. LearnAboutNTM.Com is launching today in support of World NTM Awareness Day on August 4.
"NTM lung disease is something many have not heard of before and that often translates to patients going undiagnosed for years," said Dr. Wassim Fares, MSc, FCCP, Senior Vice President, Therapeutic Area Head, Orphan Lung Diseases of MannKind Corporation. "MannKind is dedicated to elevating awareness of NTM, promote early detection and provide a pathway to resources with this website."
"It's inspiring that more companies like MannKind are using their voice to amplify awareness of NTM and provide an educational tool for patients living with the disease," said Amy Leitman, JD, president of NTM Info & Research, a nonprofit advocacy group for patients with pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial disease. "Raising awareness helps people know the signs and for patients to access resources and ultimately timely diagnoses with physicians for optimum treatment."
Pulmonary NTM infection is a rare disease with a global health impact due to its rising prevalence worldwide and association with shortened life span, high morbidity, and significant impact on patients' quality of life. NTM is a group of bacteria naturally found in our environment, including water and soil, that can lead to cough, fatigue, a reduction in lung function, and poor quality of life among other debilitating symptoms. While most people are exposed to NTM daily, the organisms generally do no harm. Individuals with underlying conditions such as COPD, asthma, and bronchiectasis are at increased risk of NTM getting established in the lungs creating an infection and progressive worsening of lung function.
There are nearly 200 species of NTM, the most common is MAC (mycobacterium avium complex), which accounts for about 80% of all NTM lung disease cases in the United States. While not everyone is at risk of contracting NTM from MAC, for those who are, it can cause serious lung damage. NTM lung disease is more common in women over the age of 65. Estimated 2022 NTM disease prevalence is more than 100,000 in the U.S. And over 150,000 in Japan. Approximately 15-20% of NTM patients are refractory. The prevalence rate of NTM is increasing globally – within the U.S. Alone claims-based studies suggest an annual rise of 7.5%.
To learn more about NTM, please visit LearnAboutNTM.Com.
About MannKindMannKind Corporation (Nasdaq: MNKD) focuses on the development and commercialization of innovative inhaled therapeutic products and devices to address serious unmet medical needs for those living with endocrine and orphan lung diseases.
We are committed to using our formulation capabilities and device engineering prowess to lessen the burden of diseases such as diabetes, nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and pulmonary hypertension. Our signature technologies – dry-powder formulations and inhalation devices – offer rapid and convenient delivery of medicines to the deep lung where they can exert an effect locally or enter the systemic circulation, depending on the target indication.
With a passionate team of Mannitarians collaborating nationwide, we are on a mission to give people control of their health and the freedom to live life.
Please visit mannkindcorp.Com to learn more, and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, X or Instagram.
MANNKIND is a registered trademark of MannKind Corporation.
Arthritis Drugs May Relieve Long COVID Lung Symptoms
University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have identified a potential treatment for the respiratory symptoms of long COVID after discovering an unknown cause of the condition inside the lungs.
The UVA researchers, led by Jie Sun, PhD, found that COVID-19 infection can cause sweeping changes in immune cells inside the lung tissues, promoting scarring and driving ongoing inflammation even after the initial infection has passed. This ongoing inflammation, they believe, drives the lasting respiratory symptoms, such as cough and difficulty breathing, associated with long COVID.
The new research from Sun and his colleagues indicates that doctors may be able to halt this chronic inflammation using a class of drugs, including baricitinib, that are already used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The anti-inflammatory drugs previously received emergency authorization from the federal Food and Drug Administration to treat the uncontrolled inflammation seen in severe COVID-19 infections.
"Our study identified a root cause of the respiratory complication of long COVID by performing comparative analysis of both clinical samples and a relevant animal model," said Sun, of UVA's Carter Center for Immunology Research and UVA's Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health. "We hope that the identification of the 'driving' mechanisms will help to rationally design clinical studies repurposing those FDA-approved drugs for respiratory long COVID soon."
Millions Struggle With Long COVID
Long COVID is estimated to affect more than 60 million people around the world. For these patients, a COVID-19 infection turns into a seemingly endless ordeal, with symptoms lasting weeks, months or even years. Symptoms of long COVID can range from uncomfortable to debilitating; for example, respiratory symptoms can include shortness of breath, chest pain and even chronic lung scarring known as interstitial lung disease.
Prior research into long COVID has sought answers in patients' blood, but Sun and his team wanted to see what changes were taking place in the lung tissues themselves. So the UVA researchers looked at cell samples collected from the lower airways of both lab mice and human patients. In both cases, they found that immune cells known as macrophages and T cells had gone haywire and were having faulty, harmful interactions. These cells normally help the body fight off the disease, but, in this case, they never stopped fighting, even after the initial COVID infection had passed.
The macrophages, the researchers found, had flooded into the lungs in abnormal numbers and were promoting tissue scarring. The T cells, meanwhile, were pumping out a substance called interferon that spurs continued inflammation.
Sun and his team believe that doctors may be able to break this cycle of inflammation using drugs that are already approved to treat the harmful inflammation seen in rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune disease that affects joints. Additional research will be needed, but Sun hopes that UVA's new discoveries will lead to much-needed new treatments for patients struggling with respiratory symptoms from long COVID.
"We hope our clinical colleagues around the globe could perform clinical trials soon to test the efficacty of baricitinib or other similar drugs targeting the same inflammatory pathway in long COVID," Sun said. "Our new study has established a foundation for identification of new therapeutic interventions for long COVID by combining rigorous clinical testing and basic scientific research."
Findings Published
The researchers have published their findings in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The research team consisted of Chaofan Li, Wei Qian, Xiaoqin Wei, Harish Narasimhan, Yue Wu, Mohd Arish, In Su Cheon, Jinyi Tang, Gislane de Almeida Santos, Ying Li, Kamyar Sharifi, Ryan Kern, Robert Vassallo and Sun. Sun has received funding from Icosavax unrelated to the work; a full list of the authors' disclosures is included in the paper.
The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, grants AI147394, AG069264, AI112844, AI176171, AI154598 and HL170961.
CT Screening Aids In Detecting Pulmonary Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Disease In RA
Individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) requiring molecular-targeted treatments are at a higher risk for pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial (PNTM) disease, both of which can be effectively managed with combined anti-NTM and molecular-targeted treatments, according to study results published in RMD Open
Lung diseases are common among patients with RA, reducing survival rates and complicating treatment. Researchers aimed to determine the incidence of PNTM disease among patients with RA, prior to initiating treatment with molecular-targeted therapeutic drugs.
Patients with RA were recruited from the Further Improvement of Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment registry in Japan. Individuals who did not have adequate disease control using conventional treatment were included in the analysis. All patients initially received plain chest radiographs followed by computed tomography (CT) scans of the chest, prior to initiating molecular-targeted therapy, to assess for evidence of suspected PNTM disease. Additional scans were conducted at 6 and 12 months postinitiation, as well as every 12 months thereafter.
Patients diagnosed with PNTM disease first initiated anti-NTM treatment, followed by concomitant use of biological/targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs). The primary study endpoint was the number of patients with RA and concomitant PNTM disease detected via CT screening before b/tsDMARD initiation.
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We found that the prevalence of PNTM disease was approximately six times higher in patients with RA requiring molecular-targeted treatment than in healthy individuals.
Among the 4447 patients with RA who received chest CT scans, 107 patients had suspected PNTM disease, of which 33 diagnoses (0.74%) were later confirmed via culture. The remaining 4414 patients had no evidence of PNTM disease.
The prevalence rate of PNTM disease was 742 per 100,000 persons. Significantly higher rates of bronchiectasis and interstitial lung disease (ILD) complications were found among patients with vs without PNTM disease. Results of multivariate analyses revealed that male sex, advanced age, low body mass index, the presence of bronchiectasis and ILD, and the use of b/tsDMARDs were associated with the development of PNTM disease among patients with RA.
Compared with radiography, CT screening was more effective for detecting PNTM disease (33 vs 19 patients; P =.039). Most patients with PNTM disease were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, and CT scans revealed almost all patients (97%) had nodular bronchiectatic lesions, with the majority of infections (84.8%) caused by Mycobacterium avium.
Among the 33 patients with PNTM disease, 31 intiated anti-NTM treatment in combination with b/tsDMARDs. Of these, 28 patients were followed-up for 24-months after treatment initiation.
Despite continuous anti-NTM antibiotic treatment, there was no significant difference in the 24-month retention rate of b/tsDMARDs between the PNTM and non-PNTM groups (53.6% vs 64.9%; P =.394). Additionally, RA disease activity significantly improved among the PNTM group after 24 months of b/tsDMARD treatment, with14.8% of patients achieving remission.
According to multivariate analyses, coexisting PNTM disease did not significantly impact the retention rate of b/tsDMARDs among patients with highly active RA (hazard ratio, 1.30; 95% CI, 0.78-2.19; P =.315). Concurrent treatment did not lead to exacerbation of PNTM disease, and the control of RA disease activity was comparable to that among patients without PNTM disease.
Study limitations include the small number of patients with PNTM disease and limited generalizability to individuals with highly active PNTM disease.
"We found that the prevalence of PNTM disease was approximately six times higher in patients with RA requiring molecular-targeted treatment than in healthy individuals," the researchers concluded.
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