Brainomix, Boehringer expand pulmonary fibrosis AI partnership

Brainomix and Boehringer Ingelheim have expanded their partnership to study clinical use of Brainomix’s e-Lung AI imaging platform for progressive pulmonary fibrosis.

The next phase will focus on PROGRESS-PPF, a prospective multicenter U.S. study designed to evaluate whether routine use of e-Lung can support earlier diagnosis of progressive pulmonary fibrosis, or PPF, according to Brainomix.

The e-Lung platform is designed to automatically detect and quantify abnormalities on thoracic CT scans, including subtle changes across multiple timepoints. Brainomix said the technology has been clinically validated to measure lung features associated with interstitial lung diseases, which can precede progressive pulmonary fibrosis.

The collaboration builds on REVISE-PPF, a retrospective study conducted with the University of Chicago, Weill Cornell Medical Center, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Brainomix said that study found e-Lung identified patients with radiologic evidence of PPF up to 28 months earlier than local clinical diagnoses.

That finding is clinically important because PPF can be difficult to identify early using routine imaging review alone. Earlier recognition may help clinicians refer patients sooner, monitor progression more consistently, and consider treatment pathways before lung function declines further.

“The evidence generated to date for e-Lung is highly compelling, showing the technology has the potential to accelerate diagnosis by more than two years,” said Michalis Papadakis, PhD, CEO and cofounder of Brainomix.

The PROGRESS-PPF study will test whether those retrospective findings translate into routine clinical use. Brainomix said the study will deploy e-Lung across multiple U.S. sites to assess real-world clinical impact at scale.

The expanded partnership also reflects growing interest in quantitative CT tools for fibrosing lung disease. In this setting, AI is not being positioned only as a detection tool. Its value depends on whether it can measure progression reliably across scans and help standardize decisions in multidisciplinary care.

Brainomix has previously worked with Boehringer Ingelheim on e-Lung validation. In January, the company said e-Lung had been selected as a co-primary endpoint in Boehringer Ingelheim’s Phase 3 DROP-FPF study in pulmonary fibrosis, using quantitative imaging biomarkers from high-resolution CT.

Results from the REVISE-PPF retrospective study are expected to be presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference in Orlando, FL, on May 17. Brainomix said it will also exhibit e-Lung at the conference from May 17 to 19.

For radiology and pulmonary teams, the announcement points to a broader direction in imaging AI: moving from single-scan interpretation toward longitudinal disease tracking. If PROGRESS-PPF confirms earlier diagnosis in routine practice, e-Lung could become part of how health systems identify patients with progressive fibrosing lung disease and coordinate earlier clinical intervention.