The project has the ambitious objective of shaping a new therapeutic paradigm for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis through an innovative therapy aimed at reactivating the mitochondrial function of lung epithelial cells using levothyroxine nanoparticles in the form of dry powder for inhalation. Starting from promising preliminary data obtained in vitro with an innovative nanoformulation, the intention is to complete the pharmaceutical and preclinical development, to accelerate the translation of this innovative approach towards clinical practice.

The main goals of the project are: i) the proof of concept of effectiveness of the new nanoformulation of levothyroxine in reversing lung fibrosis in an animal model including the assessment via PET imaging; ii) the in vitro evaluation of the mechanism of action of levothyroxine nanoformulation on fibrotic lung cell models; iii) the pharmaceutical development of a highly respirable powder containing levothyroxine nanocrystals; iv) the optimization of the production process of levothyroxine nanoformulation to drive the particle capture toward lung epithelial cell avoiding macrophagic clearance. To this end the consortium include research units with strong expertise in pharmaceutical sciences and drug delivery, cellular biology, molecular imaging and clinical development.