ATS 2026 Preview: Late-Breakers & Interviews to Watch Out For

The American Thoracic Society’s (ATS) 2026 International Conference will convene in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday, May 17, bringing together pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine professionals from around the world for one of the field’s largest annual meetings. Held at the Orange County Convention Center, the conference will feature > 500 sessions, with programming designed to highlight the latest advances shaping respiratory health care.

This year’s meeting will spotlight emerging data in asthma, COPD, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary hypertension, lung cancer, critical care, sleep medicine, and artificial intelligence in health care. In addition to late-breaking research and clinical updates, ATS 2026 will offer hands-on educational programming, skills-based courses, abstract presentations, and livestreamed sessions through ATSConference365, the meeting’s interactive conference platform.

The HCPLive editorial team will be on-site throughout the meeting, providing written coverage of practice-changing data and video interviews with leading pulmonology experts.

You can follow HCPLive’s comprehensive ATS 2026 coverage here. Check out what to expect from this year’s meeting below.

Exclusive Expert Interviews at ATS

Gerard Criner, MD, on pooled results from the phase 3 METREX, METREO, and MATINEE trials, which assessed mepolizumab as an add-on treatment to inhaled therapy for COPD (Poster Board #1496). He will also discuss pegtarazimod for AE-COPD and Tezepelumab for COPD (Poster Board #1497). Criner is chair and professor of thoracic medicine and surgery at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and director of the Temple Lung Center.

Robert S. Wallis, MD, on preliminary findings of the PanTB-HM Phase 2c trial evaluating a 4-month Pan-TB regimen to improve lung function (Poster Board #P558). Wallis is the chief science officer at the Aurum Institute and professor of medicine at both Vanderbilt University and Case Western Reserve University.

Erlina Burhan, MD, PhD, on a meta-analysis identifying a rare complication of tuberculosis (Poster Board #P556). Burhan is a pulmonologist and consultant of infectious disease at Persahabatan Hospital, Jakarta.

Tatiana V. Kudryashova, PhD, on E2F transcription factor 2 (E2F2) supporting increased proliferation in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells in pulmonary arterial hypertension (Poster Board #523). Kudryashova is an assistant professor in the interdisciplinary biomedical graduate program at the University of Pittsburgh.

Late-breaking Trials to Watch

Amikacin Liposome Inhalation Suspension for Newly Diagnosed Mycobacterium Avium Complex Lung Disease: Efficacy and Safety from a Phase 3b Study (ENCORE) (Poster Board #P566)

Presentation time: Sunday, May 17, 2026, at 11:30 am – 1:15 pm EDT

Location: Area C, Halls WA2-WA3 (Level II, OCCC West Concourse)

Presenters: Charles L. Daley, MD (National Jewish Health); Kozo Morimoto, MD, PhD (Fukujuji Hospital); Rachel Thomson, MBBS, PhD (Gallipoli Medical Research); et al.

The phase 3b ENCORE trial will present late-breaking data on amikacin liposome inhalation suspension added to azithromycin and ethambutol in newly diagnosed noncavitary MAC lung disease. Investigators will report patient-reported respiratory symptom outcomes, sputum culture conversion rates, and safety findings from the 12-month study.

Randomized Phase 2/3 Trial of an All-Oral Bedaquiline-Based Regimen for Refractory Mycobacterium Avium Complex (MAC) Lung Disease (B14 Whole New World of Discovery: Late-Breaking Clinical Trials)

Presentation time: Monday, May 18, 2026, at 11:03 am – 11:15 am EDT

Location: W224 CD/GH (Level II, OCCC West Concourse)

Presenters: Kozo Morimoto, MD, PhD (Fukujuji Hospital); Naoki Hasegawa, MD, PhD (Keio University School of Medicine); Satoshi Mitarai, MD, PhD (The Research Institute of Tuberculosis); et al.

A phase 2/3 trial at ATS 2026 will present data on an all-oral bedaquiline-based regimen for refractory Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease. Investigators evaluated sputum culture conversion and safety outcomes compared with rifamycin-based therapy in patients with persistent disease despite prior guideline-based treatment.

ADVANCE Outcomes: A Phase 3, Randomized Clinical Trial Evaluating Ralinepag for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (Poster Board #520)

Presentation time: Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at 8:15 am – 10:15 am EDT

Location: West F3 (Level II, OCCC West Concourse)

Presenters: Vallerie V. McLaughlin, MD (University of Michigan); Ali Ataya, MD (University of Florida); Joan Albert Barbera, MD (IDIBAPS – Hospital Clinic); et al.

The ADVANCE OUTCOMES trial is a phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled study evaluating the oral IP receptor agonist ralinepag in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension receiving background therapy. The analysis will assess time to clinical worsening along with functional, biomarker, and quality-of-life outcomes in a large, predominantly low-risk global PAH population, with results pending.

Efficacy and Safety of Itepekimab in Former Smokers with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: AERIFY-1 and AERIFY-2 Trials (B14 Whole New World of Discovery: Late-Breaking Clinical Trials)

Presentation time: Monday, May 18, 2026, at 9:39 am – 9:51 am EDT

Location: W224 CD/GH (Level II, OCCC West Concourse)

Presenters: Klaus Friedrich Rabe, MD, PhD (LungenClinic Grosshansdorf); Fernando J. Martinez, MD (UMass Chan Medical School); Surya P. Bhatt, MD, MSPH (University of Alabama at Birmingham); et al.

The AERIFY-1 and AERIFY-2 phase 3 trials evaluated the IL-33 inhibitor itepekimab in former smokers with moderate-to-severe COPD receiving background inhaled therapy. Across the two studies, investigators assessed annualized exacerbation rates, lung function, and safety over 52 weeks, with mixed efficacy findings alongside a generally acceptable safety profile.