CFTR and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: With this solid foundation, Solomon et al. (2016) completed a pilot evaluation of ivacaftor in smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary dysfunction (COPD): although the trial was underpowered and found no statistically significant effect, the authors reported that improvements in CFTR activity and respiratory symptoms were evident and encouraged a phase 2 trial that is currently underway (NCT03085485).