LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 12, 2026--
Baseimmune, a biotechnology company leveraging computational protein design to create next-generation immunotherapies, today unveiled its new fibrosis-focused pipeline, beginning with IPF.
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IPF is a progressive and life-threatening condition marked by aberrant wound healing, dysregulated tissue repair, and persistent activation of pro-fibrotic fibroblasts. Despite decades of research, approved therapies only slow lung function decline and do not halt or reverse progression. The complex and redundant biology underlying fibrosis is widely believed to contribute to the limited effectiveness of single-target approaches.
“Fibrosis is a biologically complex, organ-specific disease process that has consistently challenged single-target drug development,” said Kevin Walton, US-based Chief Executive Officer at Baseimmune. “IPF in particular represents an area where patients have few options and biology has repeatedly outpaced traditional drug development. Over the past several months, we’ve been expanding our computational design engine to meet exactly this kind of complexity. Our approach is built for multi-pathway immune biology from the outset, designing proteins that influence interconnected signalling networks, not isolated components.”
“IPF is driven by redundant and interconnected biological circuits that sustain fibrotic progression,” said Dr. Joshua Blight, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Baseimmune. “Dysregulation across these pathways locks tissue into a self-reinforcing pro-fibrotic state. Our strategy is to engineer antigens that harness the body’s immune system to interrupt and reset these networks by engaging multiple pathways simultaneously, restoring balance with the goal of halting, and potentially reversing, disease progression.”
Baseimmune’s fibrosis strategy focuses on multi-pathway immune modulation, enabled by the company’s proprietary antigen-design platform. By integrating advanced computational design with emerging delivery modalities, the company aims to address the compensatory immune and stromal mechanisms that drive fibrosis progression. The company is advancing its IPF program through preclinical development, with key proof-of-concept efficacy readouts expected in 2026 and 2027.
To support this expansion, Baseimmune has established a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) composed of leading experts in fibrosis biology and clinical science across lung, liver, kidney, and heart. The SAB is advising on target strategy, program design, and early translational planning.
The SAB comprises:
“We’re excited to support Baseimmune as it brings a fundamentally new design approach to address the challenge of treating fibrosis,” said Toby Maher, Professor of Medicine and Director of Interstitial Lung Disease, Member of Baseimmune’s SAB. “Targeting the interconnected and compensatory pathways that drive fibrotic disease is essential if we’re going to make meaningful therapeutic progress. Baseimmune’s multi-pathway framework represents a promising and innovative step in that direction.”
“Baseimmune’s approach aligns with where the field needs to go,” said Scott Friedman, Director of the Institute for Liver Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Member of Baseimmune’s SAB. “Fibrosis is sustained by redundant biological circuits, and overcoming that redundancy requires new thinking and new modalities. The platform that Baseimmune is building has real potential to change the trajectory of fibrotic disease.”
About Baseimmune
Baseimmune is a biotechnology company developing next-generation immunotherapies using advanced computational protein design. The company’s platform integrates multi-pathway antigen design, structural modelling, and experimental screening to create therapeutics engineered for complex, chronic disease biology. Based in London, Baseimmune is focused on fibrosis, where traditional single-pathway approaches have struggled to deliver durable impact.
For more information, visit www.baseimmune.co.uk
Joshua Blight, Baseimmune CSO
Kevin Walton, Baseimmune CEO
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — An attacker armed with a rifle was fatally shot after ramming his vehicle into one of the nation’s largest Reform synagogues Thursday in what federal investigators said was an act of violence targeting the Jewish community.
Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, called the incident “deeply disturbing and tragic” and said the FBI is leading the investigation.
The agency considers the crime a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community,” she said at a news conference Thursday. Investigators have not determined a motive yet.
“What drove this person into action has to be determined by the investigation,” said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.
The vehicle caught fire after crashing into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, just outside Detroit, and driving through a hallway as security opened fire, authorities said.
None of the synagogue’s staff, teachers or the 140 children at its early childhood center were injured, Bouchard said.
In the minutes after the attack, smoke billowed from the synagogue. One security officer was hit by the vehicle and knocked unconscious but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, the sheriff said. And 30 law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation.
West Bloomfield Police Chief Dale Young said Temple security officers “engaged the individual and neutralized the threat.”
The suspect was found dead inside his vehicle, Bouchard said.
Cassi Cohen, director of strategic development at Temple Israel, was standing at the hallway where the crash happened. She said she heard a loud bang, grabbed a few staff members, ran into her office and locked the door.
“When I heard the crash, I knew it was bad,” Cohen said.
She said a classroom was near where the car rammed the synagogue and, in addition to the children, there were also more than 30 staff members.
“Thankfully, we have had many active shooter drills and our staff is prepared for these situations,” she said. “We do go into lockdown.”
Rabbi Arianna Gordon, from Temple Israel, thanked the security team, law enforcement and early childhood teachers for getting the children out safely and reunited with their parents, calling them the “true rock stars of the day.”
About a dozen parents sprinted to get their children soon after authorities cleared the building. Other families were reunited at a nearby Jewish Community Center.
Allison Jacobs, whose 18-month-old daughter is enrolled in Temple Israel’s day care, said she got a message from a teacher saying the children were OK even before she knew what happened.
“There are no words. I was in complete and utter shock,” she told the AP. “I was hoping that it was a false report.”
Jacobs, whose family is Jewish, said she tries not to think about all that’s going on in the world.
“You never think that this is actually going to happen to you,” she said. “But I know that it’s — it’s just terrible. This morning I was mourning the loss of the school that got hit in Iran.”
Synagogues around the world have been on edge and have been ramping up security since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran with missile strikes on Feb. 28.
The FBI has warned that Iranian operatives may be planning drone attacks on targets in California. Two men brought explosives to a far-right protest outside the New York mayoral mansion on Saturday. Investigators allege they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group.
And an assailant drove a car into people outside an Orthodox synagogue in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. He stabbed two people to death before officers shot and killed him.
President Donald Trump said he had been fully briefed on the attack, calling it a “terrible thing.”
Steven Ingber, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, lamented the fact that his organization had to train and prepare for an attack.
“I’d love to say that I’m shocked, that I’m surprised, but I’m not,” he said during a news conference Thursday.
He added: “This will not change us. This will not deter us and we will continue.”
Oakland County is Michigan’s second-largest county with roughly 1.3 million people. The majority of Detroit-area Jewish residents live there.
“This is heartbreaking,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “Michigan’s Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace.”
It was the second attack at a house of worship in Michigan within the past year. Last September, a former Marine fatally shot four people at a church north of Detroit and set it ablaze. The FBI later said he was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Temple Israel has 12,000 members, according to its website, which says the synagogue is “passionate about helping Jewish communities across the globe” and that its mission is to “create a community building through the lens of Reform Judaism.”
The Jewish Federation of Detroit briefly advised all Jewish organizations in the area to lock down.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, a survivor of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, said in a statement that the Michigan attack demonstrates yet again the consequences of hatred.
“We lose our humanity when we seek violent means as a solution,” said Myers, rabbi of the Tree of Life Congregation, where 11 worshippers died in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. “No one should dwell in fear because of who they are.”
This story has been corrected to show that the shooting at a church north of Detroit happened in September, not October.
Durkin Richer reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit; Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard speaks to media as police respond to scene of a shooting at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., on Thursday, March 12 2026. (Jacob Hamilton /Ann Arbor News via AP)
Law enforcement escort families with children away from the Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Police respond to scene of a shooting at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., on Thursday, March 12 2026. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
A woman gathers children as law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue, Thursday, March 12, 2026 in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
People gather near Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
