Biomarker-Based Trial to Test Metformin’s Potential in Pulmonary Fibrosis Prevention

UMass Chan Medical School pulmonology and biomedical research expert Fernando Martinez will lead a DOD-supported, multicenter randomized trial testing metformin versus placebo in patients with or at increased risk for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, using a blood-based risk test to inform randomization and a pragmatic PFF+VA enrollment network.

The program plans to screen approximately 800 patients and to randomize roughly 400 identified as “increased risk” to metformin versus a matched placebo. Biomarker-driven enrollment matters here because stratifying by a validated risk test can increase trial efficiency and, for clinicians, highlights which clinic populations (for example, those with progressive physiology or biomarker positivity) may be prioritized for recruitment or referral.

Operationally, the consortium footprint—PFF leadership plus VA Medical Center representation and named academic centers—forms the recruitment, site oversight and steering backbone. Funding-wise, the planning phase is supported by a $625,000 DOD award with investigators planning to apply for up to $17.3 million through the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program after milestone completion, according to the release.