Study of Oral Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) in IPF Patients

This is a multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging Phase I study of once daily EGCG administered for 12 weeks. The study will assess safety, pharmacokinetics, and biomarker measurements of drug effect in IPF patients already receiving background therapy for IPF with either nintedanib or pirfenidone. Two different doses of EGCG will be studied. The rationale for this study is 1) extensive pre-clinical data in mice that EGCG is efficacious in attenuating pulmonary fibrosis by blocking collagen cross-linking and the pro-fibrotic pathway mediated by TGFβ1 signaling and 2) recently published data demonstrating that in humans EGCG is safe and capable of blocking lung tissue pro-fibrotic signaling when given two weeks prior to diagnostic surgical biopsy of pulmonary fibrosis patients, many of whom were subsequently diagnosed with IPF.