A recent financing will help Pearl Therapeutics push its lead program into late-stage trials, but further financing or a partnership will be needed before the company can file for regulatory approval.

Existing treatments for airway and lung disorders, including allergies, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, provide widely effective symptom relief. New products in development aim to halt progression and even reverse the disorders. We profile three emerging respiratory drug developers in this issue: Pearl Therapeutics, Protectimmun and Pulmatrix.

Protectimmun GMBH aims to leverage findings of a large epidemiological study showing that people exposed early in life to farms have reduced tendency to develop respiratory and other allergies. The German start-up thinks a component of barn dust can help train the human immune system so that it never perceives ordinary environmental substances as allergens.