Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects about 16 million Americans and is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. Treatment focuses on bronchodilators to open airways, inhaled steroids to reduce inflammation, and oxygen therapy for advanced disease. Most people with COPD need multiple inhalers, and about 700,000 are hospitalized each year for breathing crises.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing new anti-inflammatory drugs that target specific immune pathways, bronchodilators that work longer or better than current options, and stem cell approaches for damaged lung tissue. Researchers are studying whether drugs that block neutrophil activity or mucus buildup can prevent hospitalizations. Some trials explore whether treatments proven in asthma might help certain COPD patients with overlapping features.
Targeted anti-inflammatory drugs
Several drugs aim to block specific inflammatory signals in COPD, like IL-5 or CXCR2, which drive lung damage. These could reduce flare-ups in people whose current inhalers don't prevent them.
Stem cell therapy
Studies are testing whether stem cells delivered by IV can reduce inflammation and help damaged lung tissue repair itself. Early results suggest some people breathe easier and have fewer hospitalizations.
Mucus-targeting drugs
Thick mucus plugs airways in many COPD patients and raises infection risk. New drugs aim to thin mucus or reduce its production, potentially cutting the risk of breathing crises.
What to know before you search
Eligibility typically depends on lung function test results (FEV1), smoking history, number of recent flare-ups, and whether current inhalers are controlling symptoms.
What types of trials are currently open
- Bronchodilator trials — Testing new inhaled medications that relax airway muscles, often comparing them to standard inhalers like tiotropium or formoterol.
- Anti-inflammatory trials — Testing drugs that target specific inflammatory pathways, often given by injection or IV, for people who still have frequent flare-ups despite inhalers.
- Stem cell trials — Studying whether stem cells given by IV can reduce inflammation and improve breathing in moderate to severe COPD.
- Exacerbation prevention trials — Testing whether new treatments reduce the number of breathing crises that send people to the hospital.
- Biomarker studies — Following people with COPD to identify blood or lung markers that predict who will respond to specific treatments.
Recently added COPD trials
Share your breathing patterns and health experiences with researchers
Breathlessness is a complex symptom that results in poor quality of life, increased hospitalisations and increased mortality. Breathlessness is influenced by physiological, psychological and functional factors but these are poorly explored. There are also unexplored phenomenon's such as breathing pattern. Therefore, this study aims to understand the influences of physiology, psychology, function and breathing pattern on health related quality of life in those with a respiratory disease compared to healthy controls. This project is a cross-sectional cohort study including those with a known respiratory disease and experiencing breathlessness, compared to non-breathless healthy controls. The investigators will measure your physiology through spirometry (a breathing test that tells us about their lung function), psychology through questionnaires, function through an exercise test and breathing pattern using opto-electrictronic plethysmography (markers are placed on your chest to see how participants breathe while exercising). This will be conducted over two visits. The investigators will recruit participants from clinics at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. The investigators are aiming to recruit 50 participants with a respiratory disease and 25 healthy controls. The results of this study will help us understand breathlessness in more detail in order to be able to develop better treatments.
Take an experimental anti-inflammatory medication for COPD
This study is trying to identify the right dose of a long-acting medicine called WIN378 for people with moderate - severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). WIN378 blocks the action of a protein called TSLP that causes inflammation in the lung and may contribute to COPD control and symptoms. The study will test how doses of WIN378 are handled by the body (pharmacokinetics) and assess the safety of the medicine and markers of COPD inflammation in exhaled breath and blood, lung function and COPD control (pharmacodynamics)
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