Clazakizumab to lower immune damage after lung transplant
Official title: Targeting Inflammation and Alloimmunity in Lung Transplant Recipients With Clazakizumab
Funded at Massachusetts General Hospital · NIH-11120969 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project gives the drug clazakizumab to people who have had a lung transplant to try to reduce harmful inflammation and prevent rejection.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Massachusetts General Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | September 14, 2021 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $3,310,755 |
| NIH project number | 5U01AI163086-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11120969 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are adults who have recently received a lung transplant, especially those at higher risk for antibody-mediated rejection or early inflammatory complications.
✕Less likely to help
People without a lung transplant, those with long-standing, advanced chronic lung allograft dysfunction, or patients who cannot receive additional immunomodulatory therapy are unlikely to benefit.
What this research studies
If you have had a lung transplant, this project would give clazakizumab, a medicine that blocks the inflammatory signal IL-6, early after transplant. You would be followed with regular clinic visits, blood tests for donor-specific antibodies and immune cell changes, and lung function checks to see if inflammation and rejection are reduced. The team will also look at tissue and immune markers to understand how the drug changes the immune response that leads to chronic lung graft damage. The goal is to link these immune changes to how your lungs are doing over time.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the treatment could lower rejection, protect the transplanted lung from chronic damage, and improve long-term survival and lung function.
How similar studies have gone: Blocking IL-6 helped reduce harmful antibodies and improved outcomes in some kidney transplant patients and animal studies show benefit, but this approach is newer for lung transplant care.
Where this research is happening
-
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Madsen, Joren C — Massachusetts General Hospital
- Study coordinator: Madsen, Joren C
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Exercise-based frailty program for people awaiting lung transplants
A tailored exercise and lifestyle program is being tested to reduce frailty and improve outcomes for people waiting for a lung transplant.
-
Understanding why a lung transplant sometimes fails early and how to tailor treatment
A study of people receiving lung transplants to find molecular differences that cause early graft failure and point to better, personalized therapies.
-
Targeting inflammation and alloimmunity in lung transplant recipients with clazakizumab
A study to see if blocking IL-6 with clazakizumab can improve survival and reduce rejection in people who have received a lung transplant.
-
Vaccination responses in lung transplant patients
This grant studies how people who have received lung transplants respond to COVID-19 vaccines and why their antibody responses may be limited.
-
The Post-Lung Transplant Aging in Immune Cells in Donor Lungs
This grant explores how aging donor lungs affect lung transplant outcomes by studying immune cells called alveolar macrophages.
-
Predictors of Lung Transplant Success and Costs
This study looks at what pre-transplant patient factors and biology predict a smooth recovery and lower costs after lung transplant.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.