A research team led by Marty Burke, associate dean of research at Carle Illinois College of Medicine, in collaboration with Mike Welsh and his team at the University of Iowa, has developed a new treatment that potentially could help all people with cystic fibrosis (CF), regardless of genetic mutation.

cystetic Medicines, a new company founded by Burke and Welsh recently secured $25 million in financing to develop the treatment into a transformative new therapy for people with CF.

CF is a progressive disease that causes persistent lung infections and, over time, limits the ability to breathe. People with CF have a missing or defective ion channel protein in their lungs needed to fight infections. There is no cure, but many treatments have been developed to reduce symptoms and health complications. The problem is about 10 percent of people with CF have genetic mutations that do respond to those treatments.