Conference Preview: American Thoracic Society 2025

The American Thoracic Society’s (ATS) International Conference kicks off in San Francisco, California, on Sunday, May 18, 2025. Coined as the home of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep professionals, the 4-day conference will feature the latest advances in each of these spaces and boasts more than 10,000 attendees from 85 countries.

The agenda for this year’s meeting will provide updates on key topics in asthma, COPD, lung cancer, sepsis, acute respiratory distress, sleep apnea, and more. The HCPLive editorial team will be on-site at the meeting, providing written coverage of practice-shifting data as well as interviews with key experts.

You can keep up with HCPLive’s comprehensive conference coverage here. Check out what can be expected from this year’s meeting below:

Expert Interviews

James Stoller, MD, who will discuss his research on an AI algorithm he and his team developed to identify alpha1 antitrypsin deficiency in approximately 21,000 deidentified Cleveland Clinic patients. Stoller is Chairman of the Education Institute at Cleveland Clinic and a pulmonary/critical care physician at the Cleveland Clinic Respiratory Institute.

Gerard Criner, MD, who will review results from the phase 3 MATINEE clinical trial assessing mepolizumab in patients with COPD and findings from the Aiflow-3 clinical trial to determine the impact of targeted lung denervation on COPD exacerbations. 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.

Arthur Reingold, MD, who will explain the latest advances in respiratory vaccine research and strategies for overcoming barriers to universal vaccine coverage. Reingold is a professor of epidemiology and head of the division of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health.

Amy Attaway, MD, who will discuss the utility of a subspecialty clinic for diagnosing and treating sarcopenia due to COPD. Attaway is a pulmonologist at Cleveland Clinic.

Trials to Watch

There is a plethora of clinical trial data being presented at ATS 2025. HCPLive crafted a curated list of 7 trials to watch from the upcoming meeting:

1. Efficacy of Tezepelumab in Adults With Severe, Uncontrolled Asthma Across Multiple Exacerbation Trigger Types: The Phase 3 Direction Study

Presentation Time: 11:30 AM – 1:15 PM PT on Tuesday, May 20

Presenter: Christopher Ambrose, MD, MBA

Background Info:

Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is associated with a high symptom burden and poor health-related quality of life. Comorbid respiratory diseases are common and contribute to disease severity.

In the phase 3 WAYPOINT study, tezepelumab, a human monoclonal antibody that blocks thymic stromal lymphopoietin, significantly reduced NP size and improved patient-reported sino-nasal symptoms versus placebo in adults with CRSwNP. An analysis being presented at ATS 2025 evaluates the efficacy of tezepelumab in patients with severe, uncontrolled CRSwNP and comorbid asthma.

2. Efficacy of Tezepelumab on Upper and Lower Airway Outcomes in Adults With Severe, Uncontrolled Chronic Rhinosinusitis With Nasal Polyps in Patients With and Without Comorbid Asthma: Results From the Phase 3 Waypoint Study

Presentation Time: 11:30 AM – 1:15 PM PT on Tuesday, May 20

Presenter: Martin Desrosiers, MD

Background Info:

Tezepelumab significantly reduced the annualized asthma exacerbation rate over 52 weeks compared with placebo in patients with severe, uncontrolled asthma overall and across categories of investigator-reported exacerbation triggers in the global phase 3 NAVIGATOR study. The DIRECTION study assessed the efficacy and safety of tezepelumab in adults with severe, uncontrolled asthma in China, Republic of Korea and the Philippines, and found tezepelumab reduced the AAER over 52 weeks versus placebo by 74%. In a post hoc analysis being presented at ATS 2025, investigators assess the effect of tezepelumab on exacerbations in DIRECTION patients grouped by investigator-reported exacerbation trigger categories.

3. Ganciclovir to Prevent Reactivation of Cytomegalovirus in Patients With Sepsis-associated Acute Respiratory Failure: A Phase 3 Randomized Placebo-controlled Trial

Presentation Time: 10:03 AM – 10:15 AM PT on Monday, May 19

Presenter: Renee Stapleton, MD, PhD

Background Info:

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation in critically ill adults is associated with worse respiratory and clinical outcomes, but a causal role remains uncertain. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 16-center randomized trial being presented at ATS 2025, investigators sought to determine whether ganciclovir prophylaxis, by decreasing CMV reactivation, increases respiratory support-free days in critically ill CMV-seropositive adults with sepsis-associated acute respiratory failure.

4. Long-Term Safety and Exposure-Adjusted Incidence Rates of Adverse Events From Pooled Sotatercept Studies (PULSAR, SPECTRA, STELLAR, and SOTERIA)

Presentation Time: 3:27 PM – 3:39 PM PT on Monday, May 19

Presenter: Ioana Preston, MD

Background Info:

An activin signaling inhibitor approved to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension, sotatercept demonstrated a significant benefit versus placebo in 6-min walk distance, as well as improvement in World Health Organization functional class, pulmonary vascular resistance, N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide, and risk of clinical worsening in the phase 3 STELLAR study. The safety profile of sotatercept was manageable; adverse events included increased hemoglobin, thrombocytopenia, telangiectasia, and bleeding events, and were mostly non-serious.

In an analysis of participants from PULSAR, SPECTRA, and STELLAR being presented at ATS 2025, investigators examine longer-term safety data adjusted for sotatercept exposure, specifically looking at time-at-risk exposure-adjusted incidence rates of treatment-emergent adverse events.

5. St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire Scores in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Receiving Mepolizumab: Post Hoc Analysis of the Matinee Phase III Randomized Controlled Trial

Presentation Time: 11:30 AM – 1:15 PM PT on Tuesday, May 20

Presenter: Paul Jones, MD, PhD

Background Info:

In patients with COPD and raised blood eosinophil count, increased exacerbation rates lead to poor prognosis and place various burdens on patients’ health. An analysis of the phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group MATINEE trial being presented at ATS 2025, investigators assess the impact of mepolizumab, a humanized anti-interleukin-5 monoclonal antibody, on health-related quality of life in patients with COPD, including the week 52 prespecified change from baseline in St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) for COPD total score and individual domains.

6. Mepolizumab Is Efficacious in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Regardless of Disease Duration: Post Hoc Analysis of the MATINEE Phase III Randomized Controlled Trial

Presentation Time: 11:30 AM – 1:15 PM PT on Tuesday, May 20

Presenter: Nicolas Roche, MD, PhD

Background Info:

COPD diagnosis and initiation of therapy are frequently delayed, potentially leading to chronic inflammation and irreversible lung damage, limiting treatment efficacy. MATINEE assessed the efficacy of mepolizumab in patients with COPD with a wide spectrum of airflow obstruction and disease duration.

In post hoc analyses being presented at ATS 2025, investigators sought to determine whether previous disease duration is associated with treatment response. Specifically, they assess the annualized rate of moderate/severe exacerbations, exacerbations requiring emergency department visit and/or hospitalization, time to first exacerbation, and the proportion of responders at week 52 in the St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire for COPD and COPD assessment test.

7. Measures Related to Obstructive Sleep Apnea After Tirzepatide Treatment by Baseline OSA Severity: Post-hoc Analyses of SURMOUNT-OSA

Presentation Time: 2:15 PM – 4:15 PM PT on Monday, May 19

Presenter: Birong Liao, PhD

Background Info:

In the SURMOUNT-OSA clinical studies, tirzepatide improved measures of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and cardiometabolic parameters in participants with moderate-to-severe OSA and obesity, including apnea hypopnea index, sleep apnea specific hypoxic burden, systolic blood pressure, C-reactive protein, and body weight. In an analysis being presented at ATS 2025, investigators evaluate the associations between tirzepatide treatment and changes in these parameters versus placebo by baseline OSA severity.