A clinical stage therapeutics company developing inhaled therapies for pulmonary fibrosis.
Avalyn Pharma was founded and is led by several experienced company builders and drug developers in the respiratory space, notably CEO Lyn Baranowski and CSO Mark Surber, PhD. The company’s lead programs are inhaled version of currently available oral anti-fibrotic drugs, specifically pirfenidone and nintedanib. The oral forms of these often exhibit poor tolerability, resulting in high discontinuation rates and undertreatment. In contrast, the inhaled versions are designed to enhance lung exposure using reduced doses dosages, thereby limiting systemic exposure. This method has been shown to decrease side effects commonly seen with the oral drugs, while maintaining or even improving efficacy.