Author: admin

A phase 2a clinical trial evaluating the oral therapy GR-0621 for treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) demonstrated positive flow cytometry data, marking a significant step forward in addressing the unmet needs of the disease.¹

GRI-0621 is an experimental oral therapy manufactured by GRI Bio, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on innovations to treat inflammatory, fibrotic, and autoimmune diseases. Its therapies are designed to target the activity of natural killer T cells (NKT). GRI-0621 is an RARβy agonist that inhibits the activity of the type I invariant NKT (iNKT), which plays a critical role in propagating the injury, inflammatory response, and fibrosis observed in inflammatory and fibrotic indications. Earlier data from the clinical trial (NCT06331624) evaluating GRI-0621 showed that it met its primary and secondary end points, demonstrating that GRI-0621 was safe and efficacious over the 12-week treatment period.² The additional data released this month showed that the agent was associated with iNKT inhibition and may also help reduce inflammation and fibrotic activity in the lungs.¹

“There remains a tremendous unmet need for safe, tolerable, and truly effective treatments for patients suffering from IPF,” Marc Hertz, PhD, CEO of GRI Bio, said in a press release.

The randomized, double-blind, multicenter study enrolled 35 participants with IPF and randomized them 2:1 to receive GRI-0621 or a placebo. There were no safety or tolerability concerns observed at 12 weeks or during treatment. The most common adverse events reported were dry skin, dry lips, and muscle and joint pain. The GRI-0621 arm outperformed the placebo control arm with no increase in cough (0% in the GRI-0621–treated arm vs 25% in the placebo arm).² Furthermore, there were significantly fewer reports of gastrointestinal disorders in the GRI-0621 arm compared with the placebo arm (diarrhea reported in 13% vs 33%, respectively).

The secondary end points showed improvements in the serum biomarkers of collagen turnover. Researchers said these findings suggest this treatment may reverse fibrosis and repair damaged lung tissue. Patients in the GRI-0621 arm saw a 3% decrease in Pro-C6—a biomarker of collagen synthesis—and a 12% increase in C6M—a biomarker of collagen degradation—compared with the placebo arm.

Furthermore, the study observed an increase in biomarkers suggesting GRI-0621 was helping to rebuild the alveolar basement membrane in patients with IPF—a common adverse event associated with the disease. Patients randomized to the GRI-0621 arm experienced a mean increase of PRO-C4—a biomarker of type IV collagen synthesis—of 9% whereas patients in the placebo arm experienced a decrease of 2%.

Patients in the GRI-0621 arm also experienced a decrease in C4Ma3—a biomarker of type IV collagen degradation—whereas those in the placebo arm experienced an increase (10% vs 24%, respectively). Thus, GRI-0621–treated patients’ collagen remodeling status shifted from fibrolytic to neutral, meaning there was no continued destruction of the basement membrane.

Overall, 39% of GRI-0621–treated participants experienced an increase in forced vital capacity (FVC) at 12 weeks, whereas 80% of participants in the placebo-treated arm experienced a decline in FVC at 12 weeks.

“The positive Phase 2a results represent an important milestone for our IPF program and a compelling early signal of GRI-0621’s disease-modifying potential,” Hertz said in the December press release. “IPF remains one of the most devastating respiratory diseases, with limited treatment options and a significant need for therapies that can do more than slow decline and address the underlying biology of the disease.”

References:

1. Gri Bio announces additional positive data from phase 2A study in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, strengthening clinical proof-of-concept for GRI-0621. News release. GRIbio. January 8, 2026. Accessed January 20, 2026. https://gribio.com/gri-bio-announces-additional-positive-data-from-phase-2a-study-in-idiopathic-pulmonary-fibrosis-strengthening-clinical-proof-of-concept-for-gri-0621/

2. Gri Bio announces positive topline data from its phase 2A study in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (“IPF”). News release. GRIbio. December 10, 2025. Accessed January 20, 2026. https://gribio.com/gri-bio-announces-positive-topline-data-from-its-phase-2a-study-in-idiopathic-pulmonary-fibrosis-ipf/

Google is commissioning construction of what are being called CO2 batteries to provide green, reliable backup power for its major data centers in the United States, Europe and in parts of Asia, the company announced. 

“We’ve been scanning the globe seeking different solutions,” Ainhoa Anda, Google’s senior lead for energy strategy in Paris, said in an IEEE Spectrum report on the project. 

CO2 batteries are intended to play a role similar to that of lithium-ion battery units to store excess renewable energy to help ensure data centers have clean, reliable power when needed. But they would have greater capacity and scalability than lithium-ion batteries, and can be easily standardized to be used anywhere. 

“The challenge the tech giant has encountered is not only finding a long-duration storage option, but also one that works with the unique specs of every region,” the IEEE Spectrum report says. 

“Standardization is … one of the aspects that we really like,” Anda told IEEE Spectrum. 

Google is working with a Milan-based company called Energy Dome, which has built a model facility in Ottana, Sardinia, Italy, that is storing 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide generated from a gas supplier. As part of the partnership, Google has made an equity investment in Energy Dome. 

The facility stores the CO2 daily in an expandable dome. When energy is needed, it compresses and expands the CO2 to turn a turbine that generates 200 megawatt-hours of electricity, or 20 MW over 10 hours. Google is hoping to build similar units near its data centers to supply renewable power around the clock even when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing, according to IEEE Spectrum’s report.

Lithium-ion batteries mostly play this role for data centers now, but they typically can only cost effectively supply back-up power for 4-8 hours at a time — not long enough to power through a whole night, multiple cloudy and windless days or the hottest week of the year, when energy demand hits its peak. 

“CO2 Batteries check a lot of boxes that other approaches don’t,” the report says. “Their expected lifetime stretches nearly three times as long as lithium-ion batteries. And adding size and storage capacity to them significantly decreases cost per kilowatt-hour. Energy Dome expects its [CO2 battery] to be 30% cheaper than lithium-ion.”

CO2 batteries also have advantages over other types of large-scale power storage units, like pumped-hydro, because they can be built relatively quickly and with comparatively small footprints, needing only about 5 acres of flat land.

The Sardinia facility took less than two years to construct and the expandable dome took less than half a day to inflate, according to the article. A pumped-hydro facility, which creates energy by pumping water between reservoirs at different elevations, can take a decade to build. It also needs a lot of land with a very specific type of topography. 

Google can expect to face some pushback from neighbors. The expandable dome reaches a height comparable to that of a sports stadium, which could spur opposition. And if the dome is damaged, it could release CO2 into the air. But Energy Dome says the amount of gas that’s released won’t be much more than what’s released by airlines that make multiple flights across the Atlantic Ocean and is negligible compared to what’s released by coal plants, Energy Dome founder and CEO Claudio Spadacini told Spectrum IEEE.

Google isn’t the only company interested in the technology. In Wisconsin, the public utility Alliant Energy has been given the go-ahead from authorities to begin construction of a CO2 battery this year to supply power to 18,000 homes.